





























i 












h s 









































































































i 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES S* 

OF THE 






SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION ~fcft> 

OF 

MERICAN INDEPENDENCE- 



pCLARATION HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED 

p A SKETCH OF THE LEADING EVENTS CONNECTED WITI 

THE ADOPTION OF 

I 

J:he articles of confederation 

AND OF 

THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 



BY B; J. LOSSING, 

ITTHOR OP "SEVENTEEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SIX," "LIVES OP THB 
PRESIDENTS," &C. 

ILLUSTRATED BY FIFTY PORTRAITS 

AND OTHER ENGRAVINGS. 



PHILADELPHIA : 
DAVIS, PORTER & CO 

21 SOUTH SIXTH STREET. 
1866. 






Entered according to tho Act of Congress, in the year 1860, b % 

G. G. EVANS, 

i the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District 
Pennsylvania. 









PREFACE. 



There are lessons of deep, abiding interest, and of 
inestimable value, to be learned in studying the lives of 
the men who perilled their all to secure the blessed 
inheritance of free institutions which we now enjoy. 
We do not learn merely the dignity and sacredness of 
pure patriotism* by following them in their career amid 
tho storms of the Revolution, but all the virtues which 
adorn humanity are presented in such bold relief, in the 
private and public actions of that venerated company, 
that when we rise from a perusal of a narrative of their 
lives, we feel as if all the noble Qualities of our common 
manhood had been passing before us in review, and 
challenging our profound reverence. 

The biography of a great man, is an history of his own 
times ; and when we have perused the record of the 
actions of the men of our Revolution, we have imbibed a 
« k ?neral knowledge of the great events of that struggle for 
Freedom. I> this proposition is true, then we feel that 
thin -volume has a claim to the public regard, for we have 
endoavored to comprise within as small a compass as a 
perspicuous view of the subject would allow, the chief 
eveiitt* in the lives of the men who stood sponsors at the 
oaptism in blood of our Infant Republic. 

The memoirs are illustrated by copious notes explana- 
tory cf events alluded to in the course of the biographical 
narritrve, and these, we believe, will be found a highly 
useful feature of the work. 



I 



We have made free use of materials long since laid 
before the public by abler pens than our own. We did 
not expect to add much that is new to the biographical 
facts already published ; our aim was to condense those 
facts into the space of a volume so small, that the price of 
it would make it accessible to our whole population. 1? 
is the mission of true- patriotic 1 to scatter the seeds of' 
knowledge broad-cast amid the e in the humbler walks 
of society, because adventitious i ircumstances deny them 
access to the full granary of information, where the 
wealthy are filled ; for thes*e humbler ones are equa 
inheritors of the throne of the people's sovereignty, ant 
are no less powerful than others at the ballot-box wher* 
the nation decides who its rulers shall be. 

The final adoption of the Federal Constitution, and the 
organization of the present government of the United 
States under it, formed the climax — the crowning act 
of the drama of which the Declaration of Independence 
was the opening scene. We therefore thought it propel 
to append to the biographies, a brief sketch of the legis- 
lative events which led to the formation and adoption 
of the Constitution. The Declaration is pregnant with 
grave charges against the King of Great Britain — charges 
which his apologists have essayed to deny. We have 
taken them up in consecutive order as they stand in t/he 
document, and adduced proofs from historical facts, of 'the 
truth of those charges. These proofs might have been 
multiplied, but our space would not permit amplification 

With these brief remarks, we send oar volume forth 
vith the pleasing hope that it may prove useful to tlu 
young and humble of our beloved land, unto whom we 
affectionately dedicate it. 

B. J. L. 
New York, April, 1848. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGK, 

Pmtace, » 3 

Contents, 5 

Introduction, 7 

New Hampshire. 

Josiah Bartlett, 13 

William Whipple, 17 

— Matthew Thornton, 20 

Massachusetts. 

John Hancock, 22 

John Adams 27 

, Samuel Adams, 33 

Robert Treat Paine, 37 

Rhode Island. 

Elbridgs Gerry, 40 

Stephen Hopkins; 44 

WilliamEllery 47 

Connecticut. 

Roger Sherman, 50 

Samuel Huntington, 53 

William Williams 56 

Oliver Wolcott, 59 

New York. 

WilliamFloyd, 63 

Philip Livingston, 67 

Francis Lewis, 71 

Lewis Morris, 74 

New Jersey. 

Richard Stockton, 77 

John VVitherspoon, 81 

Francis Hopkinson, 85 

John Hart, 87 

Abraham Clark, 90 

Pennsylvania. 

Robert Morris, 93 

Benjamin Rush 99 

Benjamin Franklin, 104 

John Morton, 112 

George Clymer, 114 

.. James Smith , 119 

George Taylor, 123 



PACK. 

James Wilson, 126 

George Ross 130 

Delaware. 

Caesar Rodn«_ j , 133 

George Read 137 

Thomas McKean, 141 

Maryland. 

Samuel Chase, 14(1 

Thomas Stone 151 

William Paca, 154 

_ Charles Carroll, of Carroll ton, .... 157 

Virginia. , 

George Wythe, 162 

Richard Henry Lee 166 

Thomas Jefferson, 174 

Benjamin Harrison, 184 

Thomas Nelson, Jr 188 

Francis Lightfbot Lee 194 

Carter Braxton, 197 

North Carolina,- 

William Hooper. 201 

Joseph Hewes, 205 

John Penn, 208 

South Carolina. 

Edward Rutledge,... 211 

Thomas Hey ward, Jr 215 

Thomas Lynch, Jr 219 

Arthur Middlecon, 323 

Georgia. 

Button Gwinnett, 227 

Lyman Hall, 229 

George Walton, 233 

Robert R. Livingston, (of New 
York, not a signer.) 238 

The Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, 244 

Articles of Confederation,... 310 
The Federal Constitution,... 32* 

APPENDIX. 

The Stamp Act, 371 

Names of Delegates to the 
Constitutional Convention. 383 



INTRODUCTION 




rom no point of view can the Declaration 
of American Independence, the causes 
which led to its adoption, and the events 
which marked its maintenance, be ob- 
served, without exciting sentiments of profound vene- 
ration for the men who were the prominent actors 
remarkable scene in the drama of the'wo 1 " 1 
Properly to appreciate the true relative p 
those men stood to the then past and i" 
to view the chain of causes and c 
prospective, united in the 

For a long series of 
Great Britain, in her de ;iii 
nies, was narrow and se'fUh, and 
whole social compact h re. The 
tice of many laws, but I 
National Legislature, 
oess obliged them to 



INTRODUCTION. 

the French and Indians called forth their pl./sical ener- 
gies, and united, in a measure, the disjointed settlemepts, 
scattered in isolated communities along the Atlantic sea 
board, marked by hardly a semblance of union in feeling 
and interest, it was then that they perceived the strength 
and value of unity, and talked with each other respecting 
their common rights and privileges. 

The royal governors viewed the interchange of political 
sentiments between the colonies with great disfavor, foi 
they saw therein the harbinger of their own departing 
strength. Their representations to the British Ministry, 
more than any other single cause, contributed to the en- 
actment of laws respecting the- colonies, that finally gene- 
rated that rebellious spirit in the hearts of the Anglo- 
Americans, which would not, and did not, stop short of 
absolute Political Independence. 

fhe enactment of the Stamp Act in 1765, and the 
measures that soon followed, made it plain to the 
he colbnists that even common justice would be 
Home Government, if its claims inter- 
■)• ' us demands of an exhausted trea- 
ty the King and Parliament 
ear to all petitions and ie- 
upon the righteous assump- 
:quitable representation 
As this was a principle too 
of a free people, to be yielded 
ty of a General Council to de 
: lestior n involv 3d. In this, the 
a t -:;l ned to beat with one 



INTROD. CTION. 5 

pulsation , and almost simultaneously, and without pre- 
vious concert, the proposition for a General Congress was 
put forth in several of the colonies. 

The time and place for holding a Congress were desig- 
nated, and on the fifth of September, 1774, delegates from 
the various colonies assembled in Carpenter's Hall, in 
Philadelphia. Their deliberations were orderly but firm. 
Loyalty to the crown, notwithstanding its oppressions, was 
a leading theme in their debates. Not a word was whis- 
pered of dismemberment and independence, but they 
solemnly consulted with each other upon the best means 
of maintaining the integrity of the British realm, compati- 
ble with the preservation of their own inalienable rights. 
To this end their efforts were directed, and they humbly 
petitioned the King, remonstrated with Parliament, and 
appealed to their brethren in Great Britain for justice. 
But their petitions and remonstrances were in vain. Nev» 
oppressions were laid upon them, and the blood of Ameri- 
can citizens was shed by British soldiery at Lexington 
and Concord ! 

Another Congress assembled in May, 1775, organized 
a temporary general government, made provisions for an 
army, and appointed Washington commander-in-chief 
And yet they talked not of independence. They armed ia 
defence of rights bestowed by the B:itish Constitution, 
and they were still willing to lay them down, and avow 
their loyalty, when those rights should be respected. 
Even with arms in their hands, and successfully opposing' 
the force of British bayonets, they petitioned and remon- 
strated. But their petitions were unheeded ; their v&- 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

monstiances were insultingly answered ; And their de- 
mands for justice were met by swarms of armed merce- 
naries, purchased by the British Government of petty 
German princes, and sent hither to butcher British sub- 
jects for asserting the rights of British subjects ! 

Plope for reconciliation faded away at the opening of 
1776, and in June of that year, Richard Henry Lee, of 
Virginia, offered a resolution in the Genera.1 Congress, 
declaring all allegiance of the colonies to the British crown, 
at an end. This bold proposition was soon after followed 
by the appointment of a committee to draft a Declaration 
of Independence. This committee consisted of Thomas 
Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sher- 
man and Robert R. Livingston. The draft was made by 
Jefferson, and after a few verbal alterations by Dr. Frank- 
lin and Mr. Adams, it was submitted to Congress on the 
twenty-eighth of June. It was laid upon the table until 
the first of July, when it was taken up in committee of 
the whole, and after several amendments were made, nine 
States voted for Independence. The Assemblies of Mary- 
land and Pennsylvania refused their concurrence ; but 
conventions of the people having been called, majorities 
were obtained, and on the fourth of July, votes from all 
the Colonies were procured in its favor, and the thirteen 
united Colonies were declared free and independent States 

The Declaration was signed on that day, only by John 
Hancock, the President of Congress, and with his name 
alone, it was first sent forth to the world. It was ordered 
to be engrossed upon the Journals of Congress, and on 
the second day of August following, it was signed by alJ 



\ 



INTRODUCTION. 1 I 

out one of the fifty-six signers whose names aie appended 
oo it. That one was Matthew Thornton, who, on taking 
his seat in November, asked and obtained the privilege of 
signing it. Several who signed it on the second of 
August, were absent when it was adopted on the fourth 
of July, but, approving of it, they thus signified their ap- 
orobation. 

The signing of that instrument was a solemn act, and 
required great rirmness and patriotism in those who com- 
mitted it. It was treason against the home government, 
yet perfect allegiance to the law of right. It subjected 
those who signed it to the danger of an ignominious death, 
yet it entitled them to the profound reverence of a disen- 
thralled people. But neither firmness nor patriotism 
was wanting in that august assembly. And their own 
sound judgment and discretion, their own purity of pur- 
pose and integrity of conduct, were fortified and strength- 
ened by the voice of the people in popular" assemblies, 
embodied in written instructions for the guidance of their 
representatives. 

Such were the men unto whose keeping, as histruments 
of Providence, the destinies of America were for the time 
intrusted ; and it has been well remarked, that men, other 
than such as these, — an ignorant, untaught mass, like those 
who have formed the physical elements of other revolu- 
tionary movements, without sufficient intellect to guide 
and control them — could not have conceived, planned, and 
carried into execution, such a mighty movement, one so 
fraught with tangible marks of political wisdom, as ihe 
American Revolution. And it is a matter of just pride Ut 



IV. INTRODUCTION. 

the American people, that not one of that noble band woso 
periled life, fortune, and honor, in the cause of freedom, 
ever fell from his high estate into moral degradation, 01 
dimmed, by word or deed, the brightness of that effulgence 
which halos the Declaration of American Indepen- 
dence. 

Their bodies now have all returned to their kind red 
dust in the grave, and their souls have gone to receive 
their reward in the Spirit Land. 

Congress was assembled in Independence Hall, at 
Philadelphia, when the Declaration was adopted, and, con- 
nected with that event, the following touching incident is 
related. On the morning of the day of its adoption, the 
venerable bell-man ascended to the steeple, and a little 
boy was placed at the door of the Hall to give him notice 
when the vote should be concluded. The old man wuiied 
long at his post, saying, " They will never do it, they will 
never do it. Suddenly a loud shout came up from belovv, 
and there stood the blue-eyed boy, clapping his hands, 
and shouting, "Ring! Ring!!" Grasping the iron 
tongue of the bell, backward and forward he hurled it a 
n»»iared times, proclaiming " Liberty to the land and tc 
thn inhabitants thereof " 




mud, XW^2T" 

be ancestors of Josiah Bartlett were 
from Normandy, whence they emi- 
grated to England. The name was 
conspicuous in English History at an 
early date. Toward the dose of thn 
seventeenth century a branch of the 
family emigrated to America, and set- 
tled in the town of Beverley, in Massachusetts. Josiah 
was born in Amesbury, in Massachusetts, in November, 
1729. His mother's maiden name was Webster, and 

13 




14 NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

she was a relative of the family of the great statesman of 
that name of our time. 

Young Bartlett lacked the advantage of a collegiate 
education, but he improved an opportunity for acquiring 
some knowledge of the Greek and Latin, which offered 
in the family of a relative, the Rev. Doctor Webster. 
He chose for a livelihood the practice of the medical pro- 
fession, and commenced the study of the science when 
he was sixteen years old. His opportunities for acquir- 
ing knowledge from books were limited, but the active en- 
ergies of his mind supplied the deficiency, in a measure, 
and he passed an examination with honor at the close of 
his studies. He commenced practice at Kingston in New 
Hampshire, and proving skillful and successful, his busi- 
ness soon became lucrative, and he amassed a compe- 
tency. 

Mr. Bartlett was a stern, unbending republicai ^prin- 
ciple, yet, notwithstanding this, he was highly esteemed 
by Wentworth, the royal governor,* and received from 
him a magistrate's commission, and also the command of 
a regiment of militia. In 1765 he was elected a member 
of the provincial legislature of New Hampshire. It was 
at the time when the Stamp Actf was before the British 
Parliament, and Mr. Bartlett soon became a prominent 
leader of a party that opposed the various oppressive 
measures of the home government. Through Wentworth, 
magnificent bribes were offered him, but his patriotism 
was inflexible. 

* As a general rule the royal governors looked with disfavor upon all demo 
cvatic movements, and withdrew and withheld their support from those whi 
manifested decided republicanism in their sentiments. The obvious reason for 
this was, that the voice of republicanism sounded in their ears like the death kneli 
of their power and place. 

1 The Stamp Act required all legal instruments of writing, such as wills, deeds, 
me rtgBgea, marriage certificates, (fee, to be written upon paper stamped with the 
royal arms of Britain. An officer called a "Stamp Master" was appointed to sell 
them, and thus Great Britain indirectly taxed her American colonies without their 
consent. 



JOSIAH BARTLETT. 15 

In 1776 he was appointed a member of the Committee 
of Safety of his State. The governor was alarmed when 
this committee was appointed, and to prevent the trans- 
action of other business of a like nature, he dissolved the 
Assembly. They re-assembled in spite of the governor, 
and Dr. Eartlett was at the head of this rebellious move- 
ment. He was soon after elected a member of the Con- 
tinental Congress,* and in 1775, Governor Wentworth 
struck his name from the magistracy list, and deprived him 
of his military commission. Still he was active in the pro- 
vincial assembly, and the governor, despairing of re concili- 
ation, and becoming somewhat alarmed for his own safety, 
left the province. The provincial Congresst assumed the 
reins of government, and immediately re-appointed Dr. 
Bartlett colonel of militia. 

In August, 1775, he was again chosen a delegate to the 
Continental Congress, and was again re-elected in 1776. 
He was one of the committee appointed to devise a plan 
for the confederation of the States, a as proposed a June 
by Dr. Franklin. He warmly supported the 1776 ' 
proposition for independence, and when, on the second 
of August, 1776, the members of Congress signed the 
Declaration, Dr. Bartlett was the first who affixed his sier- 

to 

nature, New Hampshire being L.ie first State called. 

In 1778, he obtained leave from Congress to visit his 
family and look after his private affairs, which had be- 
come much deranged. He did not resume his seat ao-ain 
in that body. In 1779 he was appointed Chief Justice of 
the Court of Common Pleas of New Hampshire, and the 
muster master of its troops. He was afterward raised to 
the bench of the Supreme Court. He took an active part 

* First convened at Philadelphia, on the fourth of September, 1774. 

t Before actual hostilities commenced, nearly all the colonies were acting inde- 
pendent of the royal governors and their councils, and provincial Congresses worn 
organized, which performed all this duties of independent State legislatures. 



If NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

in the Convention of his State, in favor of the Constitutioi 
of 1737, and when it was adopted, he was elected a mem- 
ber of the first Senate that convened under it in the city 
of New York. But he declined the honor, and did not 
take his seat there. He had been previously chosen Pres- 
ident of New Hampshire, and held that responsiole of- 
fice until 1793, when he was elected the first governor of 
that State, under the Federal Constitution.* He held tho 
office one year, and then resigning it, he retired to pri- 
vate life, and sought that needful repose which the de- 
clining years of an active existence required. He had 
served his country faithfully in its hour of deepest peril, 
and the benedictions of a free people followed him to 
his domestic retreat. But he was not permitted long to 
bless his family with his proseaee, nor was he allowed to 
witness his country entirely free from perils of great mag- 
nitude, that threatened its distinction, while the elements 
of the new experiment in gove.Tuii.it were yet unstable, 
for in 1795 death called him away. He died on the nine- 
teenth of May of that year, in tho s^xty -sixth year of his 
age. 

* So jealous were the people of State Rights, ti*a* t*« Federal Constitution was 
warmly opposed in many parts of the Union, because if its apparent nul iricatiou 
of those rights, and that is the reason why several ot tee States so long delayed 
to ratify that instrument. The following table exnioiis the dates of the ratifica- 
tion of the Constitution by the thirteen old States. 

Delaware. Dec. 7 P87 South Ca/ojfc*, Miy IS 1788 

Pennsylvania, Dec. 12 1787 New Harapshu e, J u e f * 1788 

New Jersey. Dec. 18 1787 Virginia, June 2* ..1788 

Georgia, Jan. 2, 1788 New Y nk, J.ily Stf ..1788 

Connecticut, Jan. 9, 1788 North Cnmlini'l Nv* r*: . . .178! : 

Massachusetts, Feb. 6, 1788 feUiode Island, Way A... . .. 17:< 

Maryland, April 28, 1788 




illiam Whipple was born at Kittery, 
in New Hampshire (that portion which 
is now the State of Maine) in the year 
1730. His early education was received 
at a common school in his native town. 
When quite a lad, he went to sea, in 
which occupation he was engaged foi 
several years. At the age of twenty nine a he 
quitted the seafaring life, and, with his brother, 
Joseph Whipple, entered into mercantile pursuits in 
Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 

He early espoused the cause of the colonies and soop 




18 NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

became a leader among the opposition to British authority, 
In 1775 he was elected a member of the Provincial Con- 
gress of New Hampshire, and was chosen by that body, 
-me of the Committee of Safety.* When, in 1775, the 
people of that State organized a temporary government, 
Mr. Whipple was chosen a member of the Council. In 
January, 1776, he was chosen d delegate to the Continen- 
tal Congress, and was among those who, on the fourth cf 
July of that year, vc;ed for the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence. He remained in Congress until 1777, when he 
retired from that body, having been appointed a Briga- 
dier General of the New Hampshire Militia. He was 
very active in calling out and equipping troops for the 
campaign against Burgoyne. He commanded one brig- 
ade, and General Stark the other. He was under Gates 
at the capture of Burgoyne, and was one of the commis- 
sioners to arrange the terms of capitulation. He was 
afterward selected one of the officers to march the British 
prisoners to Cambridge, near Boston. 

He joined Sullivan in his expedition against the British 
on Rhode Island in 1778, with a pretty large force of 
New Hampshire Militia. But the perverse conduct of 
the French Admiral D'Estaing, in not sustaining the siege 
of Newport,! caused a failure of the expedition, and 
General Whipple, with his brigade, returned to New 
Hampshire. 

In 1780, he was offered the situation of Commissioner 

* These committees were organized in several of the States. Their business 
was to act as an executive body to regulate the general concerns of the govern- 
ment during the continuance of the war. These committees were of vast im- 
portance, and acted efficiently in conjunction with the committees of correspond- 
ence. In some instances they consisted each of the same men. 

t The Count D'Estaing agreed to assist Sullivan in reducing the town of New- 
port, but just as he was entering the harbor, the fleet of Lord Howe, from New- 
York, appeared, and he proceeded to attack him. A storm prevented an engage- 
ment, and both fleets were greatly damaged by the gale. D'Estaing, instead of re. 
maining to assist Sullivan, sailed for Boston, under the f retence of repairing hii 
ehsttered vessels 



IVILLIAM WHIPPLE. 19 

of the Board of Admiralty, but declined it. In 1782, he 
was appointed by Robert Morris, financial agent in New 
Hampshire, * but he resigned the trust in the course of a 
year. During that year, he was appointed one of the 
commissioners to settle the dispute between Pennsylvania 
and Connecticut, concerning the Wyoming domain, and 
was appointed president of the Court.t He was also ap- 
pointed, during that year, a side judge of the Superior 
Court of New Hampshire.! 

Soon after his appointment, in attempting to sum up 
the arguments of counsel, and submit the case to the jury, 
he was attacked with a violent palpitation of the heart, 
which ever after troubled him. In 1785 he was seriously 
affected while holding court ; and, retiring to his cham- 
ber, he never left it again while living. He expired on 
the twenty-eighth day of November, 1785, in the fifty- 
fifth year of his age. He requested a post mortem exami- 
nation, which being done, it was found that a portion of 
his heart had become ossified, or bony. Thus terminated 
the valuable life of one who rose from the post of a cabin 
boy, to a rank among the first men of his country. His 
life and character present one of those bright examples 
of self-reliance which cannot be too often pressed upon 
the attention of the young ; and, although surrounding 
circumstances had much to do in the development of his 
talents, yet, after all, the great secret of his success was 
doubtless a hopeful reliance upon a conscious ability to 
perform any duty required of him. 

* Robert Morris was then the manager of the finances of the Confederation, 
and these agents in the various States were a kind of sub- treasurers. Hence it 
was an office that required honest and faithful incumbents. 

t The early western boundary of Connecticut, before the organization «f New 
York, was, like most of the other States on the Atlantic, quite indefinite. A Colony 
from this province had settled in the Wyoming valley, and that region was not in- 
cluded in New York. It was within the bounds of Pennsylvania, hence the dispute. 

•f At that time the Courts in New Hampshire were constituted of four judges, of 
whom the first, or Chief Justice, only, was a lawyer, the others being chosen 6 on» 
among civilians, distinguished for 60und judgment, and a j?ood education. 



t^/Ca^tlle^ Z^^^^~^ 



Patthew Tkornton was born in Ire- 
land, in 1714, and was brought to 
this country by his father when he 
was between two and three years of 
age. His father, when he emigrated 
to America, first settled at Wiscasset. 
*=^Sxi^5S^Sfe^^ m Maine, and in the course of a lew 
years moved to Worcester, in Massachusetts, where he 
gave his son an academical education, with a view to fit 
him for one of the learned professions. Matthew chose 
the medical profession, and at the close of his preparatory 
studies, he commenced his business career in London- 
derry, New Hampshire. He became eminent as a phy- 
sician, and in the course of a few years acquired a hand- 
some fortune. 

Tn 1745 he was appointed surgeon of the New Hamp- 
shire troops, and accompanied them in the expedition 
against Louisburg.* After his return he was appointed 
by the royal governor (Wentworth) a Colonel of Militia, 
and also a Justice of the Peace. He early espoused the 
cause of the colonists, and soon, like many others, be- 
came obnoxious to the governor. His popularity among 
the people was a cause of jealousy and alarm on the pail 
of the chief magistrate. 

When the provincial government of New Hampshire 
Was organized, on the abdication of Governor Wentworth, 

* Louisburg was o fortress upon the island of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, then 
In possession of the French, and was considered one of the strongest fortihea 
tioua in America. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 23 

Dr Thornton was elected president.* When the pro- 
vincial Congress was organized he was chosen Speaker 
of the House." In September of the same year, a Jan 
he was appointed a delegate to the Continental i776. 
Congress for one year, and was permitted to sign his 
name to the Declaration of Independence, when he took 
his seat in November.! In January, 1776, (prior to 
his election to the Continental Congress) he was appointed 
a judge of the Superior Court of his State, having pre- 
viously been elected a member of the Court of Common 
Pleas. In December of that year, he was again elected 
to the general Congress for one year from the twenty- 
third of January, 1777. At the expiration of the term 
he withdrew from Congress, and only engaged in public 
affairs as far as his office as judge required his services. 
He resigned his judgeship in 1782. 

In 1789, Dr. Thornton purchased a farm in Exeter, 
where he resided until the time of his death, which took 
place while on a visit to his daughters in Newburyport, 
Massachusetts, on the twenty-fourth of June, 1803. He 
was then in the eighty-ninth year of his age. 

Dr. Thornton was greatly beloved by all who knew 
him, and to the close of his long life he was a consistent 
and zealous Christian. He always eni'wed remarkably 
good health,^ and, Dy the practice of those hygeian virtues, 
temperance and cheei fulness, he attained a patriarchal age. 

* This provisional government was intrusted to men little experienced in po- 
litical matters, and only elected for six months, yet they were men of nerve and 
prudence, and under the advice and direction of the Continental Congress, they 
•ucceeded well. 

t Dr. Thornton was not the only one to whom this indulgsnce was granted. 
There were several members absent when the vote was taken on the adoption oi 
that instrument on the fourth of July, but who, approving of the measure, subse- 
quently signed their names thereto. * 

\ At the age of eighty-one he had a severe attack of the hooping cough, which 
ever afterward caused a weakness of the lungs, and a tendency to pulmonary 
disease. 








ne of the most distinguished person- 
ages of the War of Independence, 
was John Hancock, who was born 
near the village of Quincy, in Mas- 
sachusetts, in the year 1737. His 
father and grandfather were both 
ministers of the gospel. His father 

is represented as a pious, industrious, and faithful pastor ; 

a friend of the poor, and a patron of learning. He died 

22 




JOHN HANCOCK. S3 

while John was quite an infant, and left him to the care ol 
a paternal uncle, who cherished him with great affection. 
This relative was a merchant in Boston, who had amassed 
a large fortune, and after having given John a collegiate 
education at Harvard College (where at the age of seven- 
teen years he sTaduated) a he took him into his 
counting-room as clerk. His abilities proved 
such, that, in 1760, he sent him on a business mission to 
England, where he was present at the funeral rites of 
George II., and the coronation ceremonies of George III. 
Soon after his return to America, his uncle died, and left 
him, at the age of twenty-six, in possession of a princely 
fortune — one of 1^ie largest in the Province of Massa- 
chusetts. 

He soon relinquished his commercial pursuits, and be- 
came an active politician, always taking sides with those 
whose sentiments were liberal and democratic. He was 
soon noticed and appreciated by his townsmen in Boston, 
and was chosen by them one of its selectmen, an office of 
much consideration in those days. In 1766, he was 
chosen a representative for Boston in the General Pro- 
vincial Assembly, where he had for his colleagues some 
of the most active patriots of the day, such as Samuel 
Adams, James Otis, and Thomas Cushing. „ 

Years before Mr. Hancock entered upon public life, 
the tyrannous measures of the British cabinet had ex- 
cited the fears of the American colonies, and aroused a 
sentiment of resistance that long burned in the people's 
hearts before it burst forth into a flame of rebellion. 

These feelings were familiar to the bosom of young 
Hancock, for he imbibed the principles of liberty with the 
breath of his infancy, and when ciicumstances called for 
a manifestation thereof, they exhibited the sturdy vigor 
of maturity. 

When Parliament adopted those obnoxious measure 



24 MASSACHUSETTS. 

toward America, which immediately succeeded the odioua 
Stamp Act, Mr. Hancock was a member of the Provin- 
cial Assembly, and, in union "with those patriots before 
named, and others, he determined not to submit to them. 
He was one of the first who proposed and adopted non- 
importation measures, a system which gradually spread 
to the other colonies, and produced a powerful effect upon 
the home government. Open resistance at length became 
common, and the name of Hancock figures conspicuously 
in the commotions that agitated Boston for more than eight 
years.* He became a popular leader and drew upon 
himself the direst wrath of offended royalty, t 

At the time of the Boston Massacre, and during the 
commotion known as the Tea Riot, Mr. Hancock was 
bold and active ; and in March, 1774, on the occasion of 
the anniversary of the " Massacre," he boldly delivered 
an oration, in which he spoke in most indignant terms of 
the acts and mensures of the British Government. 

In 1767, Mr. Hancock was elected a member of the 
Executive Council, but the choice was so displeasing to 
the governor, that he rejected him. He was again and 
again elected, and as often rejected, and this served to'in- 
crease his popularity among the people. At last tha 

* One of the earliest acts of open resistance, was on the occasion of the seizure 
of the Sloop Liberty, belonging to Mr. Hancock, by the Custom House officers, 
under the plea that she was loaded with goods contrary to the revenue laws. 
The people were greatly exasperated ; they beat the officers with clubs, and 
obliged them to fly to Castle William, at the entrance of Boston harbor, for 
safety. They also burned the Collector's boat, and committed other acts of vio- 
lence. These transactions gave the royal governor an excuse he wished for to in- 
troduce British troops into the city. This measure excited the indignation of the 
people to the highest pitch, and almost daily quarrels took place in the streets be- 
tween the citizens and the soldiers, which finally resulted in the death of three 
Americans, in March, 1770, by shots from the soldiers' muskets — an event known 
as The Boston Massacre. 

t In the terms of general pardon offered in 1775, John Hancock and Samuel 
Adams were excluded, as arch rebels. The night preceding the battle of Lexing 
ton, Hancock and Adams lodged together, in that village. An armed party wu 
sent by Governor Gage to arrest them, and they narrowly escaped, for as the sol 4 
diers entered one door, they went out through another. 



JOHN HANCOCK, 21 

governor, for reasons not easily divined, sanctioned hia 
appointment, and received him into the Council. * 

In 1774, the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts 
unanimously elected Hancock their president. The same 
year he was chosen a delegate to the Continental Con 
gress ; and was re-elected to the same station in 1775. 
When, during the summer of that year, Peyton Randolph 
left the presidential chair of that body, John Hancock 
was elected to the station, — a gift the most exalted, pos- 
sessed by the American people. In that office he labored 
arduously, and filled that chair on the ever memorable 
Fourth of July, 1776. As President, he first signed the 
Declaration of Independence, and with his name alone, it 
first went forth to the world. His bold signature, the 
very index of his character, has always excited the admi- 
ration of the beholder. 

Mr. Hancock resigned the office of President of Con- 
gress in 1777, owing to the precarious state of his health! 
and the calls of his private affairs, which had been neces- 
sarily much neglected, and he hoped to pass the remain- 
der of his life in the retirement of the domestic circle. J 
But that pleasure he was not suffered long to enjoy by his 
fellow citizens. He was elected a member of the Con- 
vention of Massachusetts to form a Constitution for the 
government of that commonwealth. Therein he was as- 
siduous as usual, and upon him was first conferred the 
honor, under the instrument of their adoption, of being 
Governor of the Province, or State. He was the first who 

* Governor Bernard had tried in vain to win him from the cause of the patriots. 
In 1 767, before his election to the council, he had complimented him wiih a Lieu- 
tenant's commission, but Hancock, seeing clearly the nefarious design which it 
but half concealed, tore up the commission in the presence of the people. 

t The ravagea of the gout, which was a disease hereditary in his family, made 
serious inroads upon his general health while engaged in the arduous services of 
public station. 

J. He was married in 1773, to Miss Quincy, a relative of the Adams' by whom 
he nad only one son. He died in youth, and consequnwtJv txbw*<& Tft no heir 
to perpetuate his name. 



26 MASSACHUSETTS. 

had this dignity conferred by the voluntary suffrages of 
:he people. He hold the office five consecutive years, by 
annual election. For t»vo years he declined the honor, 
but again accepted it, and held the office until his death, 
in 1793. 

He was governor during that period of confusion which 
followed the adoption of the Federal Constitution, and its 
final ratification by the several States, and his wisdom and 
firmness proved greatly salutary in restraining those law- 
less acts which a spirit of disaffection toward the general 
government had engendered in New England, and par- 
ticularly in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.* Of 
course his character and motives were aspersed by the 
interested, but when the agitation ceased, and the clouds 
passed away, his virtues and exalted character, shone with 
a purer lustre than before. 

He was elected a member of the Convention of Massa- 
chusetts to act on the adoption of the Federal Constitu- 
tion, and was chosen president of that body ; but sickness 
prevented his attendance until the last week of the ses- 
sion. He voted for the adoption of the constitution, and 
by his influence, a majority voted with him. 

Mr. Hancock continued a popular leader until the time 
of his death, and no one could successfully contend with 
him for office. He was not a man of extraordinary talent, 
but was possessed of that tact and peculiar genius fitted 
for the era in which he lived. He was beloved by all his 
cotemporaries, and posterity venerates his name, as a 
benefactor of his country. He died on the eighth of 
October, 1793, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. 

* The theory prevailed to a great extent in New England, that all having con- 
tributed to defend the national property, they all had an equal right to posses- 
sion, thus regarding the matter in the light of personal and individual interest, 
rather than in that of general welfare. Popular excitements occurred. In Ex- 
eter, in New Hampshire, a mob made prisoners of the members of the General 
Assembly. In (Massachusetts, an insurrectionary movement, led by Daniel Shay, 
(known n.i Shay's LnsurreotiOB) wan ao extensive* that four thousand militia wore 
««1W ->>t to suppress it 




O loftier genius nor purer patriot 
wore the Senatorial robe during the 
struggle for Independence, than 
John Adams. He was born at 
Braintree (now Quincy),in Massa- 
chusetts, on the thirtieth of October 
1735, and was a direct lineal de 
scendant, in the fourth generation, from Henry Adams, 
who fled from the persecutions in England during the 
reign of the first Charles.* His maternal ancestor was 

* Archbishop Laud, the spiritual adviser of Charles I. (influenced no doubt by 
tbe^Roman Catholic Queen, Henrietta Maria) took especial pains to enforce tha 
•trictest observance of the Liturgy of the establidhcd Church of England in tha 

£7 




28 MASSACHUSETTS. 

John Alden, a passenger in the May- Flower, and thus the 
subject of our memoir inherited from both parental an- 
cestors, the title g£ a Son of Liberty, which was subse- 
quently given to him and others.* His primary educa- 
tion was derived in a school at Braintree, and there he 
passed through a preparatory course of instruction for 
* Harvard University, whence he graduated at the age of 

a i7[»>, twenty years." 

Having chosen the law as a profession, he entered 
upon the study of it with an eminent barrister in Wor- 
cester, by the name of Putnam. There he had the ad- 
vantage of sound legal instruction, and through Mr. Put- 
nam he became acquainted with many distinguished pub- 
lic men, among whom was Mr. Gridley, the Attorney- 
General. Their fiist interview awakened sentiments of 
mutual regard, and young Adams was allowed the free 
use of Mr. Griilley's extensive library, a privilege of great 
value in those days. It was a rich treasure thrown open 
to him, and its value was soon apparent in the expansion 
of his general knowledge. He was admitted to the bar 
iri 1758, and commenced practice in Braintree. 

At an early period, young Adams' mind was turned to 
the contemplation of the general politics of his country, 
and the atmosphere of lil>eral principles in which he had 
been born and nurtured, gave a patriotic bias tr his judg- 
ment and feelings. He watched narrowly the m moments 
of the British government toward the American colonies, 
and was ever out-spoken in his condemnation of its op- 
pressive acts. 

He was admitted as a barrister in 1761, and as his pro- 
fessional business increased, and his acquaintance among 

Church of Scotland, and also ia the Puritan Churches. Those individuals and 
congregations who would not conform to these requirements were severely 
dealt with, and these persecutions drove a great many to the western world, where 
they might worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences. 

■ This name was given to the American patriots by Colonel Barre r on the floor 

the British House of Commons. 



Jv>IIN ADAMS. 



distinguished politicians extended, he became more pub- 
licly active, until in 1765, when the Stamp Act had raised 
a perfect hurricane in America, he wrote and published 
his " Essay on the Canon and Feudal Law." This pro- 
duction at once placed him high in the popular esteem ; 
and the same year he was associated with James Otis and 
others, to demand, in the presence of the royal governor, 
that the courts should dispense with the use of stamped 
•paper in the administration of justice. 

In 1766 Mr. Adams married Abigail Smith, the ami- 
able daughter of a pious clergyman of Braintree, and soon 
afterward he removed to Boston. There he was actively 
associated with Hancock, Otis, and others, in the various 
measures in favoi of the liberties of the people, and was 
very energetic in endeavors to have the military removed 
from the town. Governor Bernard endeavored to bribe 
him to silence, at least, by offers of lucrative offices, bui. 
they were all rejected with disdain. 

When, after the Boston Massacre, Captain Preston and 
his men were arraigned for murder, Mr. Adams was ap- 
I plied to, to act as counsel in their defence. Popular fa- 
vor on one side, and the demands of justice and humanity 
on the other, were the horns of the dilemma betweer 
which Mr. Adams was placed by the application. §ut he 
was not long in choosing. He accepted the invitation 
— he defended the prisoners successfully — Captain Pres- 
ton was acquitted, and, notwithstanding the tremendous 
excitement that existed against the soldiers, the oatriotism 
of Mr. Adams was too far above suspicion to make this 
defence of the enemy a cause for withdrawing from bim 
the confidence which the people reposed in nim. His 
friends applauded him for the act, and the people were 
satisfied, as was evident by their choosing him, that same 
year, a a representative in the provincial Assem- a mo 
bly. 



30 MASSACHUSETTS. 

Mi*. Adams became very obnoxious to t>otb Governors 
Bernard and Hutchinson. He was elected to a seat in 
the Executive council, but the latter erased his name. He 
was again elected when Governor Gage assumed au- 
thority, and he too erased his name. These things in- 
creased his popularity. Soon after the accession of Gage 
the Assemb y at Salem* adopted a proposition for a gen- 
eral Congress, and elected five delegates thereto in spite 
of the efforts of the governor to prevent it. John Adams 
was one of those delegates, and took his seat in the first 
Continental Congress, convened in Philadelphia on the 
fifth of September, 177^ He was again elected a dele- 
gate in 1775, and through his influence, George Wash- 
ington of Virginia was elected Commander-in-Chief of 
all the forces of the United Colonies.! 

On the sixth of May, 1776, Mr. Adams introduced a 
motion in Congress " that the colonies should form gov- 
ernments independent of the Crown." This motion was 
equivalent to a declaration of independence, and when, a 
month afterward, Richard Henry Lee introduced a mo- 
tion more explicity to declare the colonies free and in- 
dependent, Mr. Adams was one of its warmest advocates. 
He was* appointed one of the committee to draft the 
Declaration of Independence,! and he placed his signa- 
ture to that document on the second of August, 1776. 
After the battle of Long Island he was appointed by 

* The " Boston Port Bill," so called, which was adopted by Parliament, closed 
the port of Boston, removed the Custom House therefrom, its law Courts, &c, 
and the meeting of the Provincial Assembly was called at Salem. This oppres- 
sive act was intended to have a two-fold effect — to punish the Bostonians for 
the tea riot, and awo them into submission to the royal will. But it effected 
neither. 

t Mr. Adams did not nominate Washington, as has been frequently stated. He 
gave notice that he should "propose a member of Congress from Virginia,** 
which was understood to be Washington, but, for reasons that do not appear 
upon the journals, he was nominated by Thomas Johnson, of Maryland. 

1 The committee consisted of Dr. Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams 
Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston 



JOHN ADAMS. 31 

Congress, with Dr. Franklin and Edward Rutledge, to 
meet Lord Howe in conference upon Staten Island, con- 
cerning the pacification of the colonies. According to his 
prediction, the mission failed. Notwithstanding his great 
labors in Congress,* he was appointed a member of the 
council of Massachusetts, while on a visit home, in 1776, 
the duties of which he faithfully fulfilled. 

In 1777 Mr. Adams was appointed a special commis- 
sioner to the Court of France, whither Dr. Franklin had 
previously gone. Finding the subject of his mission fully 
attended to by Franklin, Adams returned home in 1779. 
He was immediately called to the duty of forming a Con- 
stitution for his native State. While in the discharge of 
his duty in convention, Congress appointed him a minis- 
ter to Great Britain, to negotiate a treaty of peace and 
commerce with that government. He left Boston in the 
French frigate, La Sensible, in October, 1777, and after a 
long passage, landed at Ferrol, in Spain, whence he jour- 
neyed by land to Paris.* He found England a Feb 
indisposed for peace, if American Independence 1780 ' 
was to be the sine qua non, and was about to return home, 
when he received from Congress the appointment of com- 
missioner to Holland, to negotiate a treaty of amity and 
commerce with the States General. The confidence of 
Congress in him was unlimited, and he was intrusted at 
one time, with tne execution of no less than six missions, 
each of a different character.y In 1781 he was associ- 
ated with Franklin, Jay, and Laurens, as a commissioner 
to conclude treaties of peace with the European powers. 

* During the remainder of the year 177G, and until December, 1777 (when ha 
was sent on a foreign mission) he was a member of ninety ^different committee^ 
and chairman of twenty-five I 

t These commissions empowered him, 1st : to negotiate a peace with Grea» 
Britain ; 2d, to make a treaty of commerce with Great Britain ; 3d. the same 
with the States General ; 4th, the same with the Prince of Orange ; cth, to pledge 
the faith of the United State3 to the Armed Neutrality ; 6th, to cegotiatr aloaii ol 
ten trillions of dollars. 



32 MASSACHUSETTS 

In 1782 he assisted in negotiating a commercial treaty 
with Great Britain, and was the first of the Americas 
Commissioners who signed the definitive treaty of peace 

b Sept. 3, witn that V ower ' b In 1784 » Mr ' Adams returned 
1783> to Paris, and in January, 1785, he was ap- 
pointed Minister for the United States at the Court of 
Great Britain. That post he honorably occupied until 
1788, when he resigned the office and returned home. 

While Mr. Adams was absent, the Federal Constitution 
was adopted, and it received his hearty approval. He 
was placed upon the ticket with Washington for Vice 
President, at the first election under the new Constitu- 
tion, and was elected to that office. He was re-elected to 
the same office in 1792, and in 1796, he was chosen to 
succeed Washington in the Presidential Chair. In 1801 
he retired from public life. * 

In 1816 he was placed on the democratic ticket as 
presidential elector. In 18 IS he lost his wife, with whom 
he had lived fifty-two years in uninterrupted conjugal fe- 
licity. In 1824 he was chosen a member of the conven- 
tion of Massachusetts to revise the Constitution, and was 
chosen president of that body, which honor he declined 
on account of his great age. In 1825 he had the felicity 
of seeing his son elevated to the presidency of the United 
States. In the spring of 1S2G his physical powera rap- 
idly declined, and on the fourth of July of that year,* he 
expired, in the ninety-second year of his age. On the 
very same day, and at nearly the same hour, his fellow- 
committee-man in drawing up the Declaration of Inde 
pendence, Thomas Jefferson, also died. It was tbe fif 
tieth anniversary of that glorious act, and the coincidence 
made a deep impression upon the public mind. 

* On the morning of the fourth it was evident he could not last many hn ur » 
On being asked for a toast for the day, the last words he ever uttered — word* 
Irf glorious import — fell from hia lipi ■ Independence for ever I" 




l/a rrt/'js^-c/t 



his distinguished patriot of the Revo- 
lution, was bom in Boston, Massachu- 
setts, on the twenty-second of Sep- 
tember, 1722. He was of pilgrim 
ancestors, and had been taught the 
principles of Freedom, from his in- 
_ fancy. His father was a man of con- 
« : 6^a^^Sr, and was for a long series of years a 
member of the Massachusetts Assembly, under the Colo- 
nial Government. He resolved to give Samuel a liberal 
education. After a preparatory course of study, he en- 
tered him at Harvard College, Cambridge, where, m 
3 33 




34 MASSACHUSETTS. 

1 740, at the age of eighteen years, he took his degree ">f 
A. B. He was uncommonly sedate, and very assiduous 
in the pursuit of knowledge, while a pupil. 

His father destined him for the profession of the law, 
but this design was relinquished, and he was placed as 
an apprentice with Thomas ^dishing, a distinguished 
merchant of Boston, and afterward an active patriot. 
His mind, however, seemed fixed on political subjects,* 
and the mercantile profession ■ presented few charms foi 
him. His father furnished him with ample capital to com- 
mence business as a merchant, but his distaste for the 
profession, and the diversion of his mind from its de- 
mands, by politics, soon caused him serious embarrass- 
ments, and he became almost i bankrupt. 

When Samuel was twenty-five years old, his father 
died, and the cares of the family and estate devolved 
on him, as the oldest son. Yet his mind was constantly 
active in watching the movements of the British govern- 
ment, and he spent a great deal of his time in talking and 
writing in favor of the resistance of the Colonies to the 
oppressions of the crown and its ministers. He took a 
firm and decided stand against the Stamp Act and its 
antecedent kindred schemes to tax the Colonies. As 
early as 1763, he boldly expressed his sentiments relative 
to the lights and privileges of the Colonists ; and in some 
instructions which he drew up for the guidance of the 
Boston members of the General Assembly, in that year, 
he denied the light of Parliament to tax the Colonies 
without their consent — denied the supremacy of Parlia- 
ment, and suggested a union of all the Colonies, as 
necessary for their protection against British aggressions. 
It is asserted that this was the first public expression of 

* In connection with genial companions, he wrote a series of political casaya 
for a newspaper called the " Independent Advertiser." They incurred the nick* 
i by way of derision, of the '• Whipping Club " 



SAMUEL ADAMS. $$ 

such sentiments in America, and that they we*e the spark 
that kindled the flame upon the altar of Freedom here. 

In 1765, Mr. Adams was chosen a representative for 
Boston, in the General Assembly, and became early dis- 
tinguished in that body, for his intelligence and activity. 
He became a leader of the opposition to the royal gov- 
ernor, and treated with disdain the efforts made to silence 
him,* although the offers proffered would have placed him 
in affluent circumstances. He was chosen Clerk of the 
House of Representatives ; and he originated the " Mas- 
sachusetts Circular," which proposed a Colonial Congress 
to be held in New York, and which was held there h\ 
1766. 

During the excitement of the Boston Massacre, he waa 
among the most active ; and chiefly through his influence, 
and the boldness with which he demanded the removal of 
the troops from Boston, was that object effected. 

Mr. Adams, and Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, 
ilmost simultaneously proposed the system of Committees 
iDf Correspondence, 3 which proved such a 

.... . a 1772 

mighty engine in bringing about a union of sen- 
timent among the several Colonies previous to the burst- 
ing out of the Revolution. This, and other bold move- 
ments on his part, caused him to be selected as an object 
of ministerial vengeance, and when Governor Gage issued 
his proclamation, offering pardon to all who would return 
to their allegiance, Samuel Adams and JoHn Hancock 
were alone excepted. This greatly increased their popu- 

* When the governor was asked why Mr. Adams had not been silenced by of- 
fice, he replied, that " such is the obstinacy and inflexible disposition of the man, 
that he can never be conciliated by any office or gift whatever." And when, in 
1774, Governor Gage, by authority of ministers, sent Colonel Fenton to offer Ad 
ams a magnificent consideration if he would cease his hostility to govcrnu/enc, 
or menace him with all the evils of attainder, that inflexi/.-le patriot gave this re- 
markable answer to Fenton : " ^rast I have long since made my peace with tha 
King of kings. No personal consideration shall induce me to abandon the right- 
eous cause of my country. Tell Governor Gage, it is the advice of Samuel Ad 
ams to him, no longer to insult the feelings af an exasperated people." 



36 MASSACHUSETTS. 

larity, and fiied the people with indigna.ion. Adams was 
among those who secretly matured the plan of proposing 
a general Congress, and appointing delegates thereto, in 
spite of the opposition of Governor Gage.* Mr. Adams 
was one of the five delegates appointed, and he took his 
seat in that body on the fifth of September, 1774. He 
continued an active member of Congress until 1781, x and 
was among those who joyfully affixed their signatures to 
the Declaration of Independence. 

Mr. Adams retired from Congress in 1781, but not 
from public life. He was a member of the Convention 
to form a Constitution for Massachusetts, and was on the 
committee who drafted it. He was successively a mem- 
ber of the Senate of that Commonwealth, its President, 
Lieutenant-governor, and finally Governor. To the latter 
office he was annually elected, until the imfirmities of 
age obliged him to retire from active life. He expired 
on the third day of October, 1803, in the eighty-second 
year of his age. 

* The governor hearing of the movement in the General Assembly, then sit 
ting at Salem, sent his Secretary to dissolve them, but he found the door locked, 
and the key was safely lodged in Samuel Adams' pocket. 

t The journals of Congress during that time show his name upon almost ev- 
ery important committee of that body. And probably no man did more toward 
bringing about the American Revolution, and in effecting the independence of tha 
Colonies, than Samuel Adams. He was the finst to assert boldly those political 
truths upon which rested the whole superstructure of our confederacy — he wab 
the first to act in support of those truths — and when, in the General Council ot 
States, independence was proposed, and the timid faltered, and the over-prudent 
hesitated, the voice of Samuel Adams was ever loudest in denunciations of a tem- 
porizing policy, and also in the utterance of strong encouragement to the faint- 
ksarted. " I should advise," said he, on one occasion, " persisting in our struggle 
for liberty, though it were revealed from Heaven that nine hundred and ninety- 
Bine were to perish, and only one of a thousand were to survive and retain hi* 
liberty ! One such freeman must possess more virtue, and enjoy more happiness, 
Clan a thousand slaves ; and let him propagate his like, and transmit to them what 
he> ha'th bo nobly preserved." 




his distinguished patriot was born in 
Boston, Massachusetts, in 1731. His 
father was a clergyman, and his mother 
was the daughter of the Reverend Mr. 
Treat, of Barnstable county. His ma- 
ternal grandfather was Governor Treat, 
Thus connected with the honored and 
pious, the early moral education of Mr. Paine was salu- 
tary in the extreme, and he enjoyed the advantage of 
instruction iflPletters, from Mr. Lovell, who was also th» 
tutor of John Adams and John Hancock. 

37 




of Connecticut, 



$8 MASSACHUSEl TS. 

Young Paine entered Harvard College at the age of 
fourteen years, and graduated with the usual honors. For 
a time after leaving college he taught school. He then 
made a voyage to Europe, and on his return he prepared 
himself for the ministry, in which calling he was engaged 
as chaplain in a military expedition to the north in 1755. 
Not long afterward he relinquished theology, studied law 
with Mr. Pratt, (afterward Chief Justice of New York,) 
and was admitted to practice at the bar. 

He commenced law practice in Boston, but after a short 
residence there he removed to Taunton, where he be- 
came a powerful opponent and rival of the celebrated 
Timothy Ruggles.* He early espoused the popular 
cause, but so prudently did he conduct himself, that he 
retained the full confidence of the Governor. In 1768, 
after Governor Bernard had dissolved the Assembly,! and 
a provincial Convention was called, Mr. Paine attended 
as a delegate from Taunton. In 1770, when the trial of 
Captain Preston and his men occurred, the District At- 
torney being sick, Mr. Paine was chosen his substitute, 
and he conducted the case with great ability. He was 
chairman of the Committee of Vigilance in Taunton, in 
1773. The same, and the following year (1774) he was 
elected a member of the Provincial Assembly, and was 
one of the commissioners appointed to conduct the pro- 
ceedings in the case of the impeachment of Chief Justice 
Oliver.! 

Mr. Paine was an advocate for a Continental Congress. 
He was a member of the Assembly, when, in spite of 

* Timothy Ruggles was President of the Colonial, or " Stamp Act Congress," 
In 1765. He was opposed to some of its measures, and when the Revolution 
broke out, he took sides with the King and Parliament. 

t The governor dissolved the Assembly, because with closed doors they adopted 
• circular to be sent to all the other colonies, inviting them t<fc send delegates to 
a General Colonial Congress, to be held in New York. 

X Justice Oliver was impeached on the ground that he received his salary di- 
rectly from the crown, and not from the people of the province, and thus wai 
fliade independent of them. 



ROBKliT TREAT PAINE. 39 

Governor Gage, it elected delegates to the General Con- 
gress, of whom Mr. Paine was one. He was elected a" 
aemberofthe Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, in 
he autumn of 1774, where he was very active. He was 
ieputed by the General Congress, with two others, to 
risit the army of General Schuyler at the north for the 
mrpose of observation. It was a delicate commission, 
lut one which Mr. Paine and his colleagues performed 
with entire satisfaction. The same year, John Adams 
ivas appointed Chief Justice of the province of Massa- 
;husetts, and Mr. Paine was chosen a side judge. He 
declined the honor, and in December was again elected 
to the General Congress, where he was very active, and 
on the fourth of July, the following year, (1776,) he voted 
for the Declaration of Independence, and was one of its 
signers. In 1777, he was chosen Attorney- General of 
Massachusetts, by a unanimous vote of the council and 
representatives, which office he held until 1790, when he 
was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court. He was 
a member of the Convention that framed the Constitution 
of his native State, which was adopted in 1780. For 
fourteen years, he discharged his duties as judge, and it 
1804, he left the bench, on account of the approaching 
infirmities of age. He died in 1814, at the age of eighty- 
four years. His long and active life was devoted to the 
public service, and his labors were duly appreciated by 
a grateful people. 




flt^?*- ^SUv 





lbridge Gerry was born in Mar- 
blehead, Massachusetts, on the sev 
enteeth of July, 1744. His father 
was a merchant in extensive busi- 
ness, and he resolved to give his son 
an excellent education. When hia 
preparatory studies were concluded, 
he entered Harvard College, and graduated with the title 
of A. B., in 1762. He soon after entered into commer- 
cial pursuits, amassed a handsome fortune, and by his in- 
telligence and good character, won for himself the esteem 

40 



ELBRIDGE GERRY. 41 

:>f his fellow-citizens. He watched with much solicitude 
the rapid strides which the oppressions of Great Britain 
were making in this country, and having expressed his 
sentiments fearlessly, his townsmen elected him a mem- 
ber of the General Court of the province, in 1773. There 
he soon became a bold and energetic leader, ingenious in 
devising plans of operation, and judicious and zealous in 
their execution. He was connected with John Adams 
and others in carrying through resolutions that had been 
offered in the General Court, having reference to the re- 
moval of Governor Hutchinson from office.* 

Mr. Gerry was active in all the leading political move- 
ments in Massachusetts until the War broke out. He 
was a member of the first Provincial Congress of that 
province, and was one of the most efficient opposers of 
Governor Gage. He was a member of the Provincial 
dongress at the time of the battle of Bunker Hill. The 
night preceding that event, he and General Warren slept 
together in the same bed. They bade each other an af- 
fectionate farewell in the morning, and separated, Mr. 
Gerry to go to the Congress, sitting at Watertown, and 
Dr. Warren to be slain upon the battle-field. 

In January, 1776, Mr. Gerry was elected a delegate tc 
the Continental Congress. There his commercial knowl 
edge proved very useful, and he was put upon many com 

* Governor Hutchinson, who had already become very obnoxious to the people, 
became insupportable after the discovery of some letters of his to the English 
Ministers, recommending the enforcement of rigid measures against the Ameri- 
cans, and the curtailment of the privileges of the colonies. These letters were 
put into the hands of Dr. Franklin, then Colonial Agent in England, and by him 
they were immediately transmitted to the General Court of Massachusetts. They 
produced great excitement, and a petition was adopted and forwarded to the 
Ministers, asking for the removal of Hutchinson. It was on the occasion of Dr. 
Franklin's presenting this petition to the English Privy Council, thas he was so 
violently assailed by Wedderburn, the Solicitor General. Franklin made no re 
ply, but on going to his lodgings, he took off his suit of clothes, and declared that 
he would never put it on again until he had signed " America's Independence, 
and England's degradation." When, nearly ten years afterward, he signed tbo 
treaty of peace between the two governments, he again put on that suit of clothes. 



42 MASSACHUSETTS. 

mittees where such knowledge was needed. He had 
oeen previously elected a Judge of the Court of Admi- 
ralty, but preferring a more active life, he declined the 
ippointment. He was a warm supporter of the resolu- 
ti m of Mr. Lee, declaring the United States free and in 
dependent, and he signed his name to the Declaration on 
the second of August, following its adoption. 

In 1777, Mr. Gerry was appointed one of a committee 
to visit Washington at his headquarters at Valley Forge. 
The report of that committee had a great effect upon 
Congress, and caused more efficient measures to be taken 
for the relief and support of the army. In 1780 he re- 
tired from Congress to look after his piivate affairs, but 
was re-elected in 1783. In all the financial operations of 
that body, Mr. Gerry was indefatigably engaged. In 
1785 he again retired from Congress, and fixed his resi- 
dence in Cambridge. 

Mr. Gerry was a member of the Convention of Massa- 
chusetts which adopted the present Constitution of the 
'United States. He was so opposed to many of its lead- 
ing features that he never subscribed his name to it, but 
when it became the fundamental law of the land, he did 
all in his power to carry out its provisions. He was twire 
elected a member of the House of Representatives of the 
United States under it, and after faithful services he again 
retired to private life. 

Mr. Adams, when President, knew and appreciated the 

abilities of Mr. Gerry, and he called him forth from his 

domestic quiet, by nominating him one of three envoys to 

the Court of Frances The joint mission was 

« 1798 « -ii, i * r ^i 

not received by that government, but Mr. U-erry 
was accepted, and this made him very unpopular witli a 
l».Tge portion of the people of the United States.* Mr. 

• The joint commission consisted of Elbridge (Jerry, Charles Coteswortb Pinch 
tt*y, and John MiU-shall, (luo late Chief Justice.) The relations between the two 



ELBR1DGE GERR7. 43 

Gerry considered it his duty to remain, and did so. Af 
ter his return from France, the Republicans* of Massa- 
chusetts nominated him for Governor. He failed the first 
time, but was elected the next." In 1811, he 

a 1810. 

was nominated for, and elected, Vice President 
of the United States. 

While in the performance of his duties at the seat of 
government, he was suddenly seized with illness, and died 
on the twenty-third of November, 1814, at the age of 
seventy years. He was entombed in the Congressional 
Cemetery, and a handsome monument was erected to his 
memory by Congress. 

governments were not at all friendly at that time, and Messrs. Pinckney and 
Marshall were ordered to leave the country. Mr. Gerry was desired to remain. 
The Federalists of the United States, who were opposed to the French, strongly 
condemned Mr. Gerry for remaining, while the Republicans, who sympathized 
with the French Revolutionists, applauded him. At that time, however, the Fed- 
eralists were a powerful majority, and hence Mr. Gerry disappointed the great 
majority of his intelligent countrymen. The feeling of hostility toward France, 
at that time, was very acrimonious on the part of the Fedei-alists ; for the med- 
dling impertinence of Citizen Genet, the French Minister, had roused a feeling of 
Indignation against him and his people that can hardly be conceived at the pres- 
ent day. Hoping to gain for his country the aid and friendly alliance of the 
United States, he sought to involve us in a war with Great Britain ; and he ao 
tually issued Letters of Marque to vessels of war, to sail from American porta 
and cruise against the English and other enemies of France. This brought forth 
from President Washington a proclamation of neutrality. Genet then threat- 
ened co appeal to the people of the United States. Finally, Washington became 
tired of his officiousness, and demanded and obtained his recall. But he left be- 
hind him a violence of party spirit between the Federalists and Republicans; 
unknown until then. 

*" At this time party spirit continued to run very high between the Federalists 
and Republicans, the two great political parties of the Union. The more ■progres- 
sive policy of the republican party, was so consonant with the spirit of th 
people, that it increased rapidly from its birth, and finally became so powerful, 
lhat Federalism, as a watchword of party, and in Vuth the Federal party be 
same extinct in 1819. 




'Otc^L^qtyCiyt 



^s 



tephen Hopkins was born in the town 
of Providence,* Rhode Island, on the 
seventh of March, 1707. His mother 
was the daughter of one of the first 
Baptist ministers of Providence. The 
opportunities for acquiring education at 
the time of Mr. Hopkins' childhood, 
were rare, but his vigorous intellect, in a 
measure, became a sul stitute for these opportunities, and 

* The town was subsequently divided, and the portion in which Mr. Hopkins 
was born is now called Scituattv 44 




STEPHEN HOPKINS. 45 

he became self-taught, in the truest sense ot the word. 
Mr. Hopkins was a farmer until 1731, when he removed 
to Providence and engaged in mercantile business. In 
1732, he was chosen a representative for Scituate in the 
General Assembly, and was re-chosen annually until 173S. 
He was again elected in 1741, and was chosen Speaker 
of the House of Representatives. From that fime until 
1751, h^ was almost every year a member and speaker 
of the assembly. That year he was chosen Chief Justice 
of the Colony. 

Mr. Hopkins was a delegate to the Colonial Conven- 
tion held in Albany in 1754.* He was elected Governor 
of the Colony in 1756, and continued in that office almost 
the whole time, until 1767. During the French war, 
Governor Hopkins was very active in promoting the en- 
listment of volunteers for the service, and when Mont- 
calm seemed to be sweeping all before him at the noith,+ 
Hopkins raised a volunteer corps, and was placed at its 
head ; but its services were not needed, and it was dis- 
oanded. 

He early opposed the oppressive acts of Great Britain, 
and in 1774, he held three offices of great responsibility, 
which were conferred upon him by the patriots — namely : 
Chief Justice of Rhode Island, representative in the 
Provincial Assembly, and delegate to the Continental 
Congress. At this time he introduced a biU into the 
Assembly of Rhode Island, to prevent the importation 
of slaves ; and to show that his professions, on this point, 

* This Convention was called for the purpose of concerting measures to op 
jiose more effectually the encroachments of the French settlers, and to hold a 
conference with the Six Nations of Indians. Dr. Franklin was a member of that 
Convention and submitted a plan of union for the colonies which contained all the 
essential features of our present Constitution. 

t Montcalm was commander of the French force that invaded the northern 
portions of New York, in 1757. He was driven back to Canada, and was at- 
tacked by the English, under Wolfe, tpon the Plains of Abraham, at Quebec 
wfeere he was mortally wounded. 



46 RHODE ISLAND. 

were sincere, he mar. emitted all of those which belonged 
to himself. 

In 1 775, he was a member of the Committee of Public 
Safety, of Rhode Island, and was again elected a dele- 
gate to the General Cong r ess. He was re-elected in 
1776, and had the privilege of signing the glorious De- 
claration of Independence* He was chosen a delegate 
to the General Congress for the last lime, in 1778, and was 
one of the committee who drafted the Articles of Con- 
federation for the government of the States. Notwith- 
standing he was then over seventy years, he was exceed- 
ingly active, and was almost constantly a member of some 
important committee. He died on the nineteenth of 
July, 1785, in the seventy-eighth year of his age.f 

The life of Mr. Hopkins exhibits a fine example of the 
rewards of honest, persevering industry. Although his 
early education was limited, yet he became a distinguished 
mathematician,! and filled almost every public station in 
the gift of the people, with singular ability. He was a sin- 
cere and consistent Christian, and the impress of his pro- 
fession was upon all his deeds. 

* The signature of Mr. Hopkins is remarkable, and appears as if written by one 
greatly agitated by fear. But fear was no part of Mr. Hopkins' character. The 
cause of the. tremulous appearance of his signature, was a bodily infirmity, called 
" shaking palsy," with which he had been afflicted many years, and which obliged 
him to employ an amanuensis to do his writing. 

t He was twice married ; the first time to Sarah Scott, a member of the So- 
ciety of Friends (whose meetings Mr. Hopkins was a regular attendant upon 
through life), in 1726; she died in 1753. In 1755 he married a widow, named 
Anna Smith. 

{ He rendered great assistance to other scientific men, in observing the transit 
of Venus which occurred in June, 1769. He was one of the prime movers m 
forming a public library in Providence, in 1750. He was a member of the Amer- 
ican Philosophical Society, and was the projector and patron of the Free Schocla 
in Providence. 



M 



^^^SS i\[ir0i 




illiam Ellery, the colleague of Ste- 
phen Hopkins, of Rhode Island, in the 
Continental Congress of 1776, was bom 
at Newport, on the twenty-sec md of 
^December, 1727. His father paid par- 
ticular attention to his early education, 
W^^^^Band when qualified, he placed him in 
Harvard College, where he was distinguished as a close 
student, particularly of the Greek and Latin languages. 

47 



48 RHODE ISLAND. 

He graduated in 1747, at the age of twenty years, with 
the most honorable commendations of the faculty. He 
chose the profession of the law as a business, and when 
he had completed his studies, he commenced practice in 
Newport, then one of the most nourishing places in the 
British American Colonies. 

For twenty years, Mr. Ellery practised law success- 
fully, and acquired a fortune. When the troubles of the 
Revolution began, and, as an active patriot,* he enjoyed 
the entire confidence of his fellow- citizens — he was called 
into public service. Rhode Island, although not so much 
oppressed as Massachusetts and New York at the begin- 
ning, was all alive with sympathy ; and the burning of 
the Gaspee,t in Providence Bay, in 1772, and the formal 
withdrawal of the allegiance of the Province from the 
British crown, by an act of her legislature, as early as 
May, 1776, are an evidence of the deep, patriotic feeling 
with which her people were imbued. She promptly re 
6ponded to the call for a general Congress, and Stephen 
Hopkins and William Ellery were sent as delegates. 

Mr. Ellery was a very active member of Congress, 
and on the second day of August, 1776, he signed the 
Declaration of Independence. 

In 1778, Mr. Ellery left Congress for a few weeks, and 
repaired to Rhode Island, to assist in a plan to drive the 
British from the island.J It proved abortive, and many 

* The active patriotism of Mr. Ellery excited the ire of the British, and when 
Newport was taken possession of by the enemy they burnt Mr Ellery'a house, 
and nearly all of his property was destroyed. 

t The Gaspee, a British armed vessel, was, iu 1772, placed in Providence har- 
bor lor the purpose of enforcing the revenue laws. The commander, like 
another Gesler, demanded the obeisance of every merchant vessel that entered, 
by lowering their Hags. One vessel refused, and the Gaspee gave chase. The 
merchantman so manoeuvred as to cause the Gaspee to run aground, and before 
she could be got off, she was boarded at night by the crews of several boata from ' 
Providence, and all on board were made prisoners and sent ashore ; after 
which the vessel was set on fire, and burned to the water's edge. 

% Rhode Island was taken possession of by the British in 177d. on the very day 



WILLIAM ELLKUY. 49 

of the inhabitants were reduced to great distress. Mt. 
Ellery exerted his influence in Congress, successfully, for 
their relief. About the same time he was one of a com- 
mittee to arrange some difficulties in which Silas Deane, 
and other commissioners sent to Europe, were involved.* 
He was also a member of another committee to arrange 
some difficult matters connected with the admiralty courts. 
In each capacity, his wisdom and sound discretion made 
him successful. 

In 17S2, Mr. Ellery was designated by Congress to 
communicate to Major General Greene, their estimate of 
his valuable services in the Southern Campaigns. In 
1784, he was one of a committee to whom the definitive 
Treaty of Peace with Great Britain was referred. At 
this time, he was a judge* of the Supreme Court of 
Rhode Island. In connection with Rufus King, of New 
York, he made strong efforts in 1785, to have slavery in 
the United States abolished. After the new constitution 
was adopted in 1788, and the new government was put 
in operation, he was appointed collector for the port of 
Newport, which office he retained until his death, which 
occurred on the fifteenth of February, 1820, in the 
seventy-third year of his age.t As a patriot and a Chris- 
tian, his name will ever be revered. 

that Washington crossed the Delaware. The British troop9 were commandpd 
by Sir Henry Clinton, and the squadron by Sir Peter Parker. Rhode Island 
remained in possession of the enemy three years. 

* Thomas Paine and others charged Mr. Deane with the crime of prostituting 
his official station to selfish purposes. The investigation proved the falsity of the 
charge, yet it was apparent that Mr. Deane, in his zeal, had been very injudi 
cious, and therefore he was not again sent abroad. 

t He was always fond of reading the classics in the Latin and Greek languages. 
He perused Tully'a Offices on the morning of his death, while sitting in a chair. 
He soon afterward commenced reading Cicero, when his attendants discovered 
tiat he was dead, but still holding the book in his hand. 

4 




J{,*f £/r </"^r 



rr\ 





ne of the most remarkable men of 
the Revolution, was Roger Sher 
man. He was horn in Newton, 
Massachusetts, on the* nineteenth of 
April, 1721. In 1723, the family 
moved to Stonington, in that State, 
where they lived until the death of 
Roger's fatner, in 1741. Roger was then only nineteen 
years of age, and the whole care and support of a large 
family devolved on Hm. He had been apprenticed to a 

50 



ROGER SHERMAN. 51 

shoemaker, but he now took charge of the small farm hia 
father left. In 1744, they sold the farm, and moved to 
New Milford, in Connecticut, where an elder brother, 
who was married, resided. Roger performed the jour- 
ney on foot, carrying his shoemaker's tools with him, and 
for some time he worked industriously at his trade there. 

Mr. Sherman's early education was exceedingly limited, 
but with a naturally strong and active mind, he acquired 
a large stock of knowledge from books, during his ap- 
prenticeship.* Not long after he settled in New Milford, 
he formed a partnership with his brother in a mercantile 
business, but all the while was very studious. He turned 
his attention to the study of law, during his leisure hours ; 
and so proficient did he become in legal knowledge, teat 
he was admitted to the bar, in December, 1754.t 

In 1755, Mr. Sherman was elected a representative jf 
New Milford, in the General Assembly of Connecticut, 
and the same year he was appointed a Justice of the 
Peace. After practising law about five years, he was 
appointed Judge of the County Court for Litchfield 
county. a He moved to New Haven in 1761, 

. \ . ' a May, 1759. 

when the same appointments were conferred 
upon him, and in addition, he was chosen treasurer of 
Yale College, from which institution, in 1765, he received 
the honorary degree of A. M. In 1766, he was elected 
to the senate, or upper house of the legislature of Con- 
necticut ; and it was at this time that the passage of the 
Stamp Act was bringing the politicians of America to a 
decided stand in relation to the repeated aggressions of 

* It is said that while at work on his bench, he had a book so placed that he 
could read when it was not necessary for his eyes to be upon his work He thus 
acquired a good knowledge of mathematics, and he made astronomical calcula- 
tions for an almanac that was published in New York, when he was only twenty 
seven years old. 

t Mr. Sherman had no instructor or guide in the study of the law, neither had 
he any books but such as ho borrowed, yet he became one of tjhe most profound 
jurists of his day. 



52 CONNECTICUT. 

Great Britain. Roger Sherman fearlessly took part with 
the patriots, and was a leader among them in Connecti- 
cut, until the war broke out. He was elected a delegate 
from Connecticut to the Continental Congress, in 1774, 
and was present at the opening on the fifth of Septem- 
ber. He was one of the most active members of that 
body, and was appointed one of the Committee to pre- 
pare a draft of a Declaration of Independence ; a docu- 
ment to which he affixed his signature with hearty good 
will, after it was adopted by Congress. 

Although his duties in Congress, during the war, were 
almost incessant, yet he was at the same time a member of 
the Committee of Safety of Connecticut. In 1783, he was 
appointed, with Judge Law, of New London, to revise the 
statutes of the State, in which service he showed great abil- 
ity. He was a delegate from Connecticut in the Conven- 
tion in 1787 that framed the present Constitution of the 
United States ; and he was a member of the State Con- 
vention of Connecticut which assembled to act upon the 
ratification of that instrument. For two years after the 
organization of the government under the Constitution, he 
was a member of the United States House of Representa- 
tives. He was then promoted to the Senate, which office 
he filled at the time of his death, which took place on the 
twenty-third of July, 1793, in the seventy-third year of 
his age. He had previously been elected mayor of New 
Haven, when it was invested with city powers and privi 
leges, and that office he held until the time of his death.* 

* He was twice married, the first time to Elizabeth Hartwell, of Stoughton, mid 
the second time to Rebecca Prescott, of Danvers. By his first wife he had seve* 
.children, andeighf by his last. 




he family of Samuel Huntington 
was among the earlier settlers of Con- 
necticut, who located at Saybrook. 
He was born at Windham, Connecti- 
cut, on the second of July, 1732. His 
father was an industrious farmer, and 
_ the only education he was able to al- 
low his son, was that to be derived from the common 
schools in his neighborhood. Samuel was very studious, 
and the active energies of his mind surmounted many ob- 
stacles that stood in the way of intellectual advancement 

53 




54 CONNECTICUT. 

He acquired a tolerable knowledge of the Latin lan- 
guage, and at the age of twenty -two years he commenced 
the study of law. Like Sherman he was obliged to pur- 
sue it with borrowed books and without an instructor. 
He succeeded, however, in mastering its difficulties, and 
in obtaining a good practice in his native town, before he 
was thirty years of age. At the age of tweiiry- 
eight" he removed to Norwich, where he had 
greater scope for his talents. 

Mr. Huntington was elected to the General Assembly 
of Connecticut in 1764, and the next year he was chosen 
a member of the Council. In the various duties of official 
station he always maintained the entire confidence and 
esteem of his constituents. 

He was appointed Associate Judge of the Superior 
Court in 1774; and in 1775 he was appointed one of the 
delegates from Conrecticut, in the General Congress. 
The following year he had the glorious privilege of voting 
for, and signing, the Declaration of Independence. He 
was a member of the Congress nearly five consecutive 
years, and was esteemed as one of the most active men 
there. His integrity and patriotism were stern and un- 
bending ; and so conspicuous became his sound judg- 
ment and untiring industry, that in. 1779 he was appointed 
President of Congress, then the highest office in the na- 
tion.* At length his impaired health demanded his re- 
signation of the office, 6 yet it was with great re- 
luctance that Congress consented to dispense 
with his services. 

On his return to Connecticut he resumed the duties of 
the offices he held in the Council and on the Bench, both 
of which had been continued while he was in Congress. 
He again took his s^at in Congress in 1783, but left it 

* He was appointed to eucveei T ohn Jay, who was sent as Minister Plenipotear 
tiary to Spain, to nego*Hto a treat} of amity and commerce with that nation. 



SAMUEL HUNTINGTON. 55 

again in November of that year, and retired to his family. 
Soon after his return, he was appointed Chief Justice of 
the Superior Court of his State." In 1785 he was 
elected Lieutenant Governor, and was promoted 
to the Chief Magistracy in 1786, which office he held un- 
til his death, which occurred at Norwich, on the fifth day 
of January, 1796, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. 

Governor Huntington lived the life of the irreproacha- 
ble and sincere Christian, and those who knew him most 
intimately, loved him the most affectionately He was a 
thoughtful man, and talked but little — the expression of 
his mind and heart was put forth in his actions. He 
seemed to have a natural timidity, or modesty, which 
some mistook for the reserve of haughtiness, yet with those 
with whom he was familiar, he was free and winning 
in his manners. Investigation was a prominent charac- 
teristic of his mind, and when this faculty led him to a 
conclusion, it was difficult to turn him from the path of 
his determination. Hence as a devoted Christian and a 
true patriot, he never swerved from duty, or looked back 
after he had placed his hand to the work. The cultiva- 
tion of this faculty of decision we would earnestly recom- 
mend to youth, for it is the strong arm that will lead them 
safely through many difficulties, and win for them that 
sentiment of reliance in the minds of others, which is so 
essential in securing their esteem and confidence. It was 
this most important faculty which constituted the chief 
aid to Samuel Huntington in his progress from the hum- 
ble calling of a ploughboy, to the acme of official station, 
where true greatness was essential and to which none 
\nt, the truly good could aspire. 





ales was the place of nativity of the 
ancestors of Will i am Williams. They 
emigrated to America in 1630, and set- 
tled at Roxbury, in Massachusetts. His 
grandfather and father were both min- 
isters of the gospel, and the latter was 
Wfor more than half a century pastor of 
a Congregational Society, in Lebanon, Connecticut, where 
the object of this brief sketch was born on the eighteenth 



WILLIAM WILLIAMS. 57 

of April, 1731. He entered Harvard College at the age 
of sixteen years, and at twenty he graduated 
with honorable distinction." He then com- 
menced thsological studies with his father; but the agita- 
tions of the French War attracted his attention, and in 
1754 he accompanied his relative, Colonel Ephraim Wil- 
liams, in an expedition to Lake George, during which the 
Colonel was killed. He returned home with settled feel- 
ings of dislike toward the British officers in general, who 
haughtily regarded the colonists as inferior men, and de- 
serving of but little of their sympathy. 

He abandoned the study of theology, and entered into 
mercantile pursuits in Lebanon. At the age of twenty- 
five he was chosen town clerk, which office he held nearly 
half a century. He was soon afterward chosen a mem- 
ber of the Connecticut Assembly, and forty-five years he 
held a seat there. He was always present at its sessions, 
except when attending to his duties in the General Con- 
gress, to which body he was elected a delegate in 1775. 
He was an ardent supporter of the proposition for Inde- 
pendence, and cheerfully signed the glorious Declaration 
when it was adopted. 

When, in 1781, Arnold, the traitor, made an attack 
upon New London,* Williams, who held the office of colo- 
nel of militia, hearing of the event, mounted his horse 
and rode twenty -three miles in three hours, but nrrived 
only in time to see the town wrapped in flames. 

Mr. Williams was a member of the State Convention 
of Connecticut, that decided upon the adoption «>f thw 

* Norwich, fourteen miles from New London, was the native place of Arnold. 
On the expedition alluded to, he first attacked Fort Trumbull, at the entrance o! 
the Thames, on which New London stands. The garrison evacuated the Fort at his 
approach, and, in imitation of the infamous Governor Tryon, of New York, he 
proceeded to lay the town in ashes. Arnold's men were chiefly tories. On the 
^ame day, Fort Grisw .H, opposite, was attacked, and after its surrender, *U **»* 
about forty of the garrison were butchered in cold blocd. 



58 CONNECTICUT. 

present Constitution of the United States, and voted in 
favor of it. His constituents were opposed to the meas- 
ure, but it was not long before they discovered their er- 
ror, and applauded his firmness. 

In 1804, Colonel Williams declined a re-election to the 
Connecticut Assembly, and withdrew entirely from pub- 
lic life. His life and fortune* were both devoted to his 
country, and he went i to domestic retirement with the 
love and veneration of .us countrymen attending hirn. 
He was married in 1772, to Mary, the daughter of Gov- 
ernor Trumbull, of Connecticut, and the excellences of 
his character greatly endeared him to his family. In 1810 
he lost his eldest son. This event powerfully shocked his 
already infirm constitution, and he never recovered from 
it. His health gradually declined ; and a short time be- 
fore his death he was overcome with stupor. Having 
laid perfectly silent for four days, he suddenly called, 
with a clear voice, upon his departed son to attend his 
dying father to the world of spirits, and then expired. 
He died on the second day of August, 1811, at the pa- 
triarchal age of eighty-one years. 

* Many instances are related of the personal sacrifices of Mr. Williams for his 
«ountry's good. At the commencement of the war he devoted himself to hid 
country's service, and for that purpose h- closed his mercantile business, so as 
not to have any embarrassments. In 1779, when the people had lost all confidence 
in the final redemption of the continental paper money, and it could not procure 
supplies for the army, Mr. Williams generously exchanged two thousand dollars 
in specie for it, and of course lost nearly the whole amount. The Count Do 
Rochambeau, with a French army, arrived at Newport during the summer o! 
1780, as allies to the Americans, but they did not enter into the service until the 
next year, and remained encamped in New England. Louzor. one of Rochain- 
beau's cavalry officers, encamped during the winter with his legion at Lebanon, 
and Mr. Williams, in order to allow the officers comfortable quarters, relinquished 
his own house to them, and moved his family to another. Such was the selt 
of the Fathers of our Reoublic, and such the noble examnlea t.hev uresent 




he name of Wolcott, appeared among 
the early settlers of Connecticut, and 
from that day to this, it has been dis- 
tinguished for living scions, honored for 
their talents in legislation or literature.* 
The subject of this brief sketch was 
born in Windsor, Connecticut, on the twenty-sixth of No- 




* The English ancestor, Henry Wolcott, first settled in Dorchester, Massachu- 
setts, after his arrival in 1630. In 1636, he, with a few associates, moved to 
Windsor, in Connecticut, and formed a settlement there. He was among the first 
who organized the government of Connecticut, and obtained a charter from King 
Charles H. < 

59 



60 CONNECTICUT. 

vember, 1726 * He entered Yale College at the age 
of seventeen years, and graduated with the usual honors 
in 1747. He received a Captain's commission in the 
Army the same year, and raising a company immediately, 
he marched to the northern frontier to confront the 
French and Indians. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle,} 
terminated hostilities, and he returned home. He arose 
regularly from Captain to Major-General. 

Young Wolcott now turned his attention to the study 
of medicine, under his distinguished uncle, I)r. Alexander 
Wolcott ; but when he had just completed his studies, he 
was appointed sheriff of the newly-organized county of 
Litchfield. 

In 1774, he was elected a member of the council of 
his native State ; and he was annually re-elected until 
1786, notwithstanding he was, during that time, a dele- 
gate to the Continental Congress, Chief Justice of Litch- 
field county, and also a Judge of Probate of that dis- 
trict. 

Mr. Wolcott was appointed by the first General Con- 
gress, one of the Commissioners of Indian Affairs for 
the northern department; and he performed excellent 
service to the American cause by his influence in bringing 
about an amicable settlement of the controversy between 
Connecticut and Pennsylvania, concerning the Wyoming 
settlement : a controversy at one time threatening serious 
effects upon the confederacy. 

Toward the close of 1775, Mr. Wolcott was elected a 
delegate to the second General Congress, and took his 
seat in January, 1776. He took a prominent part in the 
debates respecting the independence of the Colonies, and 
voted for, and signed that glorious Declaration of Ameri- 

* His father was a distinguished man, having been Major General, Judge, Lieu- 
tenant Governor, and finally Governor of the State of Connecticut. 

t This was a treaty of Peace between Great Britain, France, Spain, Hollaa<i 
Hungary, and G moa. It was concluded in 1743- 



OLIVER WOLCOTT. 61 

can disenthralment. Soon after this act was consum- 
mated, he returned home, and was immediately appointed 
by Governor Trumbull and the Council of Safety, to the 
command of a detachment of Connecticut militia (con 
sisting of fourteen regiments) destined for the defence of 
New York. After the battle oi Long Island, he returned 
to Connecticut, and in November of that year, he re- 
sumed his seat in Congress, and was in that body when 
they fled to Baltimore at the approach of the British to- 
ward Philadelphia, at the close of 1776. 

During the latter part of the summer of 1776, he was ac- 
tively engaged in the recruiting service, and after sending 
General Putnam (then on the Hudson river), several thous- 
ands of volunteers, he took command of a body of recruits, 
and joined General Gates at Saratoga. He aided in the 
capture of Burgoyne and his army in October, 1777, and 
soon afterward, he again took his seat in Congress, then 
assembled at York, in Pennsylvania,* where he continued 
until July, 1778. In the summer of 1779, he took com- 
mand of a division of Connecticut militia, and undertook, 
with success, the defence of the southwestern sea coast 
of that State, then invaded by a British army.t From 
that time, until 1783, he was alternately engaged in civil 
and military duties in his native State, and occasionally 
held a seat in Congress. In 1784 and 1785, he was an 

* During the Revolution, Congress held its sessions in Philadelphia, but waa 
obliged on several occasions to retreat to a more secure position. At the close 
of 1776" it adjourned to Baltimore, when it was expected Cornwallis would attack 
Philadelphia, after his successful pursuit of Washington across New Jersey. 
Again, when Howe marched upon Philadelphia, in September, 1777, Congress ad- 
journed to Lancaster, and three days afterward to York, where its sessions were 
held during the winter the American army were encamped at Valley Forge. 

t The British force was led by Governor Tryon, of New York. It was a plun- 
dering and desolating expedition. Fairfield and Norwalk were laid in ashes, and 
the most cruel atrocities were inflicted upon the inhabitants, without regard to sex 
or condition. Houses were rifled, the persons of the females abused, and many 
of them fled half naked to the woods and swamps in the vicinity of their d^so 
lated homes. 



6J CONNECTICUT. 

active Indian Agent, and was one of the Commissioners 
who prescribed terms of peace to the Six Nations of In- 
dians who inhabited Western New York.* 

In 1786, General Wolcott was elected Lieutenant 
Governor of Connecticut, and was re-elected every year, 
until 1796, when he was chosen Governor of the State. 
He was re-elected to that office in 1797, and held the 
station at the time of his death, which event occurred on 
the first day of December, of that year, in the seventy- 
second year of his age. As a patriot and statesman, a 
christian and a man, Governor Wolcott presented a bright 
example ; for inflexibility, virtue, piety and integrity, were 
his prominent characteristics. 

* The five Indian Tribes, the Mohawks, the Oncidas, the Onondagas. the Cay*- 
gas, and the Senecas, had formed a confederation long before they were discov- 
ered by the whites. It is not known when this confederation was first formed, 
but when the New England settlers penetrated westward, they found this pow 
erful confederacy strongly united, and at war with nearly all of the surrounding 
tribes. The Onondagas seemed to be the chief nation of the confederacy, for 
with them the great council fire was specially deposited, and it was kept always 
burning. Their undisputed domain included nearly the whole of the present area 
of the State of New York. They subdued the Hurons and AlgonqvAns in 1657 ; 
and in 1665 they almost annihilated the Erics. In 1672 they destroyed the An- 
dastcs, and in 1701 they penetrated as far South as the Cape Fear River, spread- 
ing terror and desolation in their path. They warred with the Cherokees, and al- 
most exterminated the Catawbas ; and when, in 1744, they ceded some of their 
lands to Virginia, they reserved the privilege of a war-path through the ceded do- 
main. In 1714 they were joined by the Tuecaroras of North Carolina, and siuce 
that time the confederacy has been known as the Six Nations. They uniformly 
took 6ides with the British, and entered into a compact with them against the 
French, in 1754. In the war of the Revolution, " The whole confederacy," saya 
De Witt Clinton, " except a little more than half the Oneidas, took up arms azainst 
ub. They hung like the scythe of Death upon the rear of our settlements, and 
their deeds are inscribed, with the scalping knife, and the tomahawk, in charac- 
ters of blood, oo the fields of Wyoming, and Cherry Valley, and en the bank* ol 
tha Mohawk." 




ales, in Great Britain, was the father- 
land of William Floyd. His grand- 
father came hither from that country 
in the year 1680, and settled at Se- 
tauket, on Long Island. He was dis- 
tinguished for his wealth, and possessed great influence 
among his brother agriculturists. 

The subject of this memoir was born on the seventeenth 
day of December, 1134. His wealthy father gave him 

63 




64 NEW YORK. 

every opportunity for acquiring useful knowledge. H* 
had scarcely closed his studies, before the death of his 
father called him tc the supervision of the estate, and he 
performed his duties with admirable skill and fidelity. 
His various excellences of character, united with a pleas- 
ing address, made him very popular ; and having es- 
poused the republican cause in opposition to the oppres- 
sions of the mother country, he wasdoon called into active 
public life. 

Mr. Floyd was elected a delegate from New York to 
the first Continental Congress, in 1774, and was one of 
the most active members of that body. He had previ- 
ously been appointed commander of the militia of Suffolk 
County ; and early in 1775, after his return from Con- 
gress, learning that a naval force threatened an invasion 
of the Island, and that troops were actually debarking, 
he placed himself at the head of a division, marched to- 
ward the point of intended debarkation, and awed the in- 
vaders into a retreat to their ships. He was again re- 
turned to the General Congress, in 1775, and the numer- 
ous committees of which he was a member, attest his 
great activity. He ably supported the resolutions of Mr. 
Lee, and cheerfully voted for and signed the Declaration 
of Independence. 

While attending faithfully to his public duties in Con- 
gress, he suffered greatly in the destruction of his prop- 
erty and the exile of his family from their home. After 
the battle of Long Island, in August, 1776, and the re« 
treai of the American army across to York Island, his fine 
estate was exposed to the rude uses of the British sol- 
diery, and his family were obliged to seek shelter and pro- 
tection in Connecticut. His mansion was the rendez- 
vous for a party of cavalry, his cattle and sheep were used 
as provision for the British army, and for seven years he 
derived not a dollar of income from his property. Yet he 



WILLIAM FLOYD. 63 

abated not a jot in his zeal for the cause, and labored on 
hopefully, alternately in Congress and in the Legislature 
of iew York.* Through his skilful management, in con- 
nection with one or two others, the State of New York 
was placed, in 1779, in a very prosperous financial con- 
dition, at a time when it seemed to be on the verge of 
bankruptcy. The depreciation of the continental paper 
moneyt had produced alarm and distress wide-spread, 
and the speculations in bread-stuffs threatened a famine ; 
yet William Floyd and his associates ably steered the bark 
of state clear of the Scylla and Charybdis. 

On account of impaired health, General Floyd asked 
for and obtained leave of absence from Congress, in April, 
1779, and in May he returned to New York. He was 
at once called to his seat in the Senate, and placed upon 
the most important of those committees of that bfjdy, who 
were charged with the delicate relations with the General 
Congress. 

In 17S0 he was again elected to Congress, and he con- 
tinued a member of that body until 1783, when peace was 
declared. He then returned joyfully, with his family, to 
the home from which they had been exiled for seven 
years, and now miserably dilapidated. He declined a 
re-election to Congress, but served in the Legislature of 
his State until 1778, when, after the newly adopted Con- 

* After the Declaration of Independence wa3 adopted, the States organized gov- 
ernments of their own. General Floyd was ejected a Senator in the first legisla- 
tive body that convened in New York, after the organization of the new govern* 
ment, and was a most useful member in getting the new machinery into sac- 
cessful operation. 

t The amount of paper money issued by Congress before the close of 1779, 
amounted to about two hundred millions of dollars. The consequence of such 
an issue was a well grounded suspicion that the bills would not uJtimatdv be re- 
deemed ; and this suspicion, at the close of 1779, became so much cf a certainty, 
that the notes depreciated to about one fourth of their value. An attempt wag 
made by Congress tc make these bills * legal tender at their nominal value, bul 
the measure was soon perceived to be mischievous, ar.d they were left to theif 
fate. 

5 



56 NEW YORK. 

Btitution waj ratified, he was elected a membei of the first 
Congress that convened under that charter in the city of 
New York, in 1789. He declined an election the second 
time, and retired from public life. 

In 1784 General Floyd purchased some wild land upon 
the Mohawk, and when he retired to private life, he com- 
menced the clearing up and cultivation of those lands 
So productive was the soil, and so attractive was the 
beauty of that country, that in 1S03 he moved thither, al- 
though then sixty-nine years old. He directed his atten- 
tion to the cultivation of his domain, and in a few years, 
the " wilderness blossomed as the rose," and productive 
farms spread out on every side. 

In 1800 he was chosen a Presidential Elector; and in 
1801 he was a delegate in the Convention that revised 
the Constitution of the State of New York. He was sub- 
sequently chosen a member of the State Senate, and was 
several times a Presidential Elector. The last time that 
he served in that capacity was a year before his death, 
which occurred on the fourth day of August, 1821, when 
he was eighty-seven years of age. Mi . Floyd had always 
enjoyed robust health, and he retained his mental facul- 
ties in their wonted vigor, until the last. His life was a 
long and active one ; and, as a thorough business man, his 
services proved of great public utility during the stormy 
times of the Revolution, and the no less tempestuous and 
dangerous period when our government was settling down 
upon its present steadfast basis. Decision was a leading 
feature in his character, and trilling obstacles never 
thwarted his purposes when hi» opinion and determina- 
tion were fixed. And let it be remembered that this noble 
characteristic, decision, was a prominent one with all of 
that sacred band who signed the charter of our emanci 
pation, and that without this, men cannot be truly great, 
t>r eminently useful. 




mong the brilliant names of the Rev- 
olutionary era, none shine with a 
purer lustre, than that of Livingston. 
Like the name of Wolcott, from the 
early settlement of our country to 
the present time, that name has been 
conspicuously honored, and has held a large place in the 
public esteem. 

Philip Livingston was descended from a Scotch min- 
tter of the gospel, of exemplary character, who, in 1663 

67 




68 NEW YORK. 

)eh Scotland and settled in Rotterdam, where lie died 
His son Robert (the father of the subject of this biief 
sketch) soon after his father's decease, emigrated to Amer- 
ica, and, under the patroon privileges, obtained a grant 
of a large tract of land upon the Hudson River, (now in 
Columbia County,) ever since known as Livingston's Ma- 
nor. He had three sons, of whom Philip was the oldest, 
and who became, on the death of his father, heir to the 
manor.* 

Philip was bom at Albany, on the fifteenth of January, 
1716. After completing a preparative course of study, 
he entered Yale College, at New Haven, where he grad- 
uated with distinguished honor in 1737. He at once 
turned his attention to commercial pursuits, and engaged 
in an extensive and lucrative business in the city of New 
York, where his integrity and upright dealings won for 
him the profound respect of the whole community. 

Mr. Livingston first entered upon public life in 1754, 
when he was elected an Alderman of the East Ward of 
the city of New York.t For nine consecutive years he 
was re-elected to that office, and always gave entire satis 
faction to his constituents. 

When Sir Charles Hardy, the Governor of the Colony 
of New York, was appointed a rear-admiral in the Brit- 
ish navy, the government devolved upon the lieutenant, 
Delancey, who at once, on the resignation of the gover- 
nor, dissolved the General Assembly and ordered new 
elections. These contests at that time were very warm, 
but the superior education and influence of the Livingston 
family secured for Philip and his brother Robert, seats 

* His two brothers, Robert and Gilbert, were influential men at that time. The 
former was the father of Chancellor Livingston, who administered the inaugural 
oath to Washington, in 1789 ; and the latter was the father of the late Rev. John 
Livingston, D. D., President of Rutger's College, New Jersey. ^ 

1 At that time the city contained only about eleven thousand inhabitants • t 
what is now called Wall street, was quite at the north part of the town 



PHILIP LIVINGSTON. 69 

in that body. It was a period of much agitation and 
alarm,* and required sterling men in legislative councils, 
Mr. Livingston soon became a leader among his colleagues, 
and by his superior wisdom and sagacity, measures were 
set on foot which resulted in the capture from the French 
of several important frontier fortresses, and finally the sub- 
jugation of Canada. 

For some time previous to the Revolution, nearly all 
the Colonies had resident agents in England. The cele- 
brated Edmund Burke was the agent for New York when 
the war broke out, and it is believed that his enlightened 
views of American affairs, as manifested in his brilliant 
speeches in Parliament in defence of the Colonies, were 
derived from his long continued and constant correspond- 
ence with Philip Livingston, who was appointed one of 
a committee of the New York Assembly, for that pur- 
pose. He was very influential in that body, and early 
zook a decided stand against the unrighteous acts of Great 
Britain. He was the associate and leader of such men 
as General Schuyler, Pierre V^an Cortlandt, Charles De 
Witt, &c, and so long as whig principles had the ascen- 
dency in the Provincial Assembly, he was the Speaker 
of the House. When toryism took possession of the 
province he left the Assembly. In 1774, Mr. Livingston 
was elected a delegate to the first Continental Congress, 
and was on the committee that prepared the address to 
the people of Great Britain ; an address replete with bold 
and original thoughts, perspicuous propositions and con- 
vincing arguments.t The next year the Assembly pre- 
sented such an array of toiies, that it was impossible to 

* The " French and Indian War," which was the American division of the famous 
* Seven Years' War," was then at its height, and the brilliant successes of Mont- 
calm upon the northern frontier of New York, gave the people great uneasiness. 

t William Pitt, the great Earl of Chatham, speaking of that first Congress, and 
the addresses put forth by it, said : " I must declare and aver, that in all my read- 
tag and studj — and it has been my favorite study — I have read ThucYdides, and 



70 NEW YORK. 

elect delegates to the second Congress. Accordingly sev- 
eral counties* Df New York sent delegates to a Provin- 

a April, c ^ Convention, which body elected delegates 

177o< to the General Congress, among whom was 
Philip Livingston, and his nephew, Robert R. Livingston. 
These delegates were vested with power to act as cir- 
cumstances should require. 

Mr. Livingston warmly supported the proposition for 
Independence, and he voted for and signed the Declara- 
tion thereof. This was sanctioned by the Provincial As- 
sembly of New York. 

When the State governments were formed, after the 
Declaration of Independence, Mr. Livingston was elected 
a member of the first Senate of New York, which met on 
the tenth of September, 1777. In 1778, although his 
health was in a precarious state, occasioned by dropsy in 
the chest, he obeyed the calls of duty, and took his seat 
in Congress, to which he had been elected. He had a 
presentiment that he should not return to his family, and 
accordingly on his departure, he bade his family and 

b May, friends a final adieu. 6 On the twelfth of June 

1778, following, his presentiment became a reality, and 
his disease then suddenly terminated his life, at the age of 
sixty-two years. No relative was near to smooth his dying 
pillow, except his son Henry, a lad of eighteen years, then 
residing in the family of General Washington. 

Mr. Livingston was zealous in the promotion of every 
enterprise conducive to the public welfare, t and has left 
behind him a name and fame that kings might covet. 

have studied and admired the master spirits of the world — that for solidity of 
reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, under such a complica- 
tion of circumstances, no nation, or body of men, can stand in preference to the 
General Congress at Philadelphia. 
* New York, Albany, Dutchess, Ulster, Orange, Westchester, Kings, and Suffolk, 
t He was one of the founders of the New York Society Library; also, of the 
Chamber of Commerce ; and was an active promoter of the establishment of 
King's (now Columbia) College 



U h. ■ — — ^ — -xx 




(/aa/z f& 




rancis Lewis was born in "Wales, in 

the town of Landaff, in the year 1713. 
His father was an Episcopal clergyman, 
his mother was a clergyman's daughter, 
and Francis was their only child. He 
was left an orphan when only about five 
years old, and was taken under the care and protection 
of a maiden aunt, who watchqd over him with the appa 

71 




72 NEW YORK. 

rent solicitude of a mother. He received a portion of his 
education in Scotland with another relative, and became 
proficient not only in his native tongue (the ancient Bri- 
ton) but in the Gaelic language, then mostly used in Scot- 
land. His uncle, Dean of St. Paul's, in London, after- 
ward sent him to Westminster, where he obtained a good 
education. 

After leaving school he served an apprenticeship with 
a London merchant. At the age of twenty-one he be- 
came the possessor of some money, which he invested 
in merchandise and sailed for New York, in which city 
he formed a business partnership. Leaving a portion' of 
his goods with his associate, he proceeded to Philadel- 
phia with the balance, where he resided for two years. 
He then returned to New York, and made that his place 
of business and abode. He married the sister of Mr. An- 
nesly, his partner, by whom he had seven children. 

Mr. Lewis' business increased, and his commercial pur- 
suits kept him much of his time in Europe until the open- 
ing of the " French and Indian War," in which he was 
an active partisan. He was the aid of Colonel Mercer, 
at Oswego, when that Fort was captured by Montcalm in 
August, 1757. Mercer was slain, and Lewis was earned, 
with other prisoners, to Canada.* Thence he was sent 
to France, and was finally exchanged. At the close of 
the war, five thousand acres of land were given him by the 
British government as a compensation for his services. 

Mr. Lewis was distinguished during the administration 
of Mr. Pitt, for his republican views, and he was elected 
one of the delegates for New York in the Colonial Con- 
press of 1765. When the Stamp Act became a law, and 
non-importation agreements nearly ruined commerce, he 

* Fourteen hundred men were made prisoners ; and thirty-four pieces of cannon, 
• large quantity of ammunition and stores, and several vessels in the harbor, fell 
Into the hands of the French. The Fort was demolished, and was never rebuilt 



FRANCIS, LEWIS. 73 

••etired from business to his country residence on Long 
Island. 

In 1775 he was elected a delegate to the General Con- 
gress, by the convention of deputies from several coun- 
ties of New York * He was also elected a delegate for 
J.776, by the Provincial Assembly, and he became one of 
the signers of the Declaration of Independence, in Au- 
gust of that year. He was a member of Congress until 
1778, and was always an active committee man in that 
body. 

Mr. Lewis was a shining mark for the resentment of 
the British and tories,f and while the former possessed 
Long Island, they not only destroyed his property, but 
had the brutality to confine his wife in a close prison for 
several months, without a bed or a change of raiment, 
whereby her constitution was ruined, and she died two 
years afterward. 

Having attained to the ripe age of nearly ninety years, 
and honored by the universal reverence and esteem of his 
countrymen, Mr. Lewis departed this life on the thirtieth 
of December, 1803. 

* See Life of Philip Livingston. 

t The party names of Whig and Tory were first used in New York, in 1774, 
and rapidly spread throughout the Colonies. The name of Tory was applied to 
the American royalists, and the name of Whig was assumed by the patriots. The 
origin of these names, (which were copied from the English) is obscure. Ac- 
cording to Bishop Burnett, the term whig has the following derivation : The 
people of the southwestern parts of Scotland, not raising sufficient grain to last 
them through the winter, generally went to Leith to purchase the superabundance 
of the North. From the word Whiggam, which they used in di'iving their horses, 
they were called Whiggamores, and, abbreviated, Whigs. On one of these oc- 
casions, mews having reached Leith of the defeat of Duke Hamilton, the minis- 
ters invited the Whiggamores to march against Edinburgh, and they went at their 
head, preaching and praying all the way. The Marquis of Argyle, with a force, op- 
posed and dispersed them. This was called the " Whiggamore inroad" ani 
ever after that, all that opjiosed the Court, came in contempt to be called Whig*. 
The English adopted the name. The origin of the word Tory is not clear. It 
was first used in Ireland in the time of Charles II. Sir Richard Phillips defines the 
two parties thus : '« Those are Whigs who would curb the power of the Crowa; 
those are Tories who would curb the power of the people." 




(2&&^ ^//tfrtU) 



- ^^t> ewis Morris was born at Morrisama, 
Westchester county, New York, in 
the year 1726. Being the eldest son, 
he inherited his father's manorial es 
tate,* which placed him in affluent 
circumstances. At the age of six 
been years he entered Yale College, and under the pres- 
idency of the excellent Rev. Mr. Clapp, he received his 

* At that time, the English primogeniture law prevailed in America, and evwt 
•Aer the Revolution, Virginia and some other States retained it 

74 




LEWIS MORRIS. 75 

education. He graduated with the usual honors at twenty, 
and returned to the supervision of his large estate. 

Mr. Morris was a handsome man ; and his personal ap~ 
pearance, connected with a strong intellect and great 
wealth, made him popular throughout the Colony. When 
Great Britain oppressed her children here, he hardly felt 
the unkind hand, yet his sympathy for others was aroused, 
and he was among the first to risk ease, reputation and 
fortune, by coalescing with the patriots of Massachusetts 
and Virginia. His clear perception saw the end from the 
beginning, and those delusive hopes which the repeal of 
obnoxious acts held forth, had no power over Lewis Morris. 
Neither could they influence his patriotism, for he was a 
stranger to a vacillating, temporizing spirit. He refused 
office under the Colonial government, for his domestic 
ease and comfort were paramount to the ephemeral en- 
joyments of place. Hence, when he forsook his quiet 
hearth, and engaged in the party strife of the Revolution, 
hazarding fortune and friends, no sinister motive could be 
alleged for his actions, and all regarded him as a patriot 
without selfish alloy. He looked upon war with the 
mother- country as inevitable, and so boldly expressed his 
opinion upon these subjects, that the still rather lukewarm 
Colony of New York did not think proper to send him 
as a delegate to the General Congress of 1774 * But the 
feelings of the people changed, and in April, 1775, Mr. 
Lewis was elected a member of the second Congress that 
met in May following. 

During the summer of 1775, Mr. Morris was sent on a 
mission of pacification to the Indians on the western fron- 

* New York was so peculiarly exposed to the attacks of the British fleet under 
Lord Howe, then hovering upon our coast, and so forewarned by the miseries of 
Boston, and the destruction of Falmouth, that toryism, or loyalty to the crown, 
found ample nutriment among the people of the city. It was in the city of New 
York that the names of whig and tory were first applied to the distinctive p<v 
litical parties. 



76 NEW YORK. 

tier. He was again elected te Cong/ess in 1776, and 
when the question of Independence came up, he boldly 
advocated the measure, although it seemed in opposition 
to all his worldly interests.* Like the others of the New 
York delegation, he was embarrassed by the timidity of 
the Provincial Congress, which seemed unwilling to sanc- 
tion a measure so widely antipodent to all reconciliation 
v, <th Great Britain. But the conviction of the final ne- 
ces.^ ity of such a step, had been long fixed in the mind of 
Mr. Moms, and he did not for a moment falter. He 
voted for and signed the Declaration of Independence, 
and his State afterward thanked hirn for his patriotic firm- 
ness.* His family seemed to be imbued with his own 
sentiments, for three of his sons entered the army, served 
with distinction, and received the approbation of Congress. 
Mr. Moms relinquished his seat in the National Coun- 
cil in 1777, but he was constantly employed in public ser- 
vice in his native State, either in its legislature, or as a 
military commander,^ until the adoption of the Constitu- 
tion. When peace was restored, he returned to his scathed 
and almost ruined estate, where he spent the remainder 
of his days in agricultural pursuits, amid that happy quiet 
of domestic life, which an active and virtuous career pro- 
motes. He died in January, 1798, in t .ie seventy-second 
year of his age. His funeral presented a large concourse 
cf citizens, who truly mourned his loss ; and the military 
honors due to his rank of Major General, were rendered, 
when his body was committed to the family vault. 

* He plainly foresaw what actually happened — his house ruined, his farm 
wasted, his forest of a thousand acres despoiled, h* cattle carried off, and hi« 
femily driven into exile by the invading foe. 

t When, in 1777, Mr. Morris left Congress and was succeeded by his brother, 
Gouverneur Morris, the Convention that elected the latter, adopted a vote of thank* 
to him for his " long and faithful services rendered to the Colony of New York." 

$ He was raised to the rank if Major General, but his active services were not 
wrought into much requisition. 




/i^f 8 ^^^ 




he great grandfather of Richard 
Stockton came from England some 
time between 1660 and 1670, and first 
settled upon Long Island, in the Colony 
of New York. Thence he went into 
New Jersey, and with his ample means 
purchased a fine tract of land near 

Princeton, where, with a fev others, he commenced » 

settlement. 




7g NEW JERSEY. 

The sulject of this memoir was born up n the Stock- 
ton manor, on the first of October, 1730. He pursued his 
studies, preparatory to a collegiate course, at an academy 
in Maryland, and after two years thus spent, he entered 
New Jersey college, then located at Newark. He grad- 
uated in 1748, anti was placed as a student of law, under 
the Hon. David Ogden, of Newark. 

Mr. Stockton was admitted to the bar in 1754, and rose 
so rapidly in his profession, that in 1763 he received the 
degree of sergeant-at-law,* a high distinction in the Eng- 
lish Courts, and then recognised in the American Colo- 
nies. 

In June, 1766, Mr. Stockton embarked for London, 
a*:d during the fifteen months he remained in England he 
was treated with flattering distinction by the most emi- 
nent men in the realm. While there he was not unmind- 
ful of his alma mater, and he obtained considerable pa- 
tronage for New Jersey College. His services were af- 
terward gratefully acknowledged by that institution. 

At the time Mr. Stockton was in England, American 
affairs nad assumed so much importance, that partisan 
feeling had sprung up there, and as a consequence, the 
opinions of so distinguished an American were sought for. 
By invitation, Mr. Stockton spent a week at the country 
6eat of the Marquis of Rockingham,t and on his making 
a tour to Edinburgh, he was entertained by the Earl of 
Leven and other noblemen. At Edinburgh he was re- 

* Sergeant-at-Law — (jserviens ad legem)— is the highest degree taken in England 
in the common law. They are sometimes called sergeants of the coif, from th« 
lawn coif they wear on their heads, under their caps, when they are created. — 
Treasury of Knowledge. 

t The Marquis of Rockingham was an honorable and liberal, statesman. He 
was elevated to the premiership of England in 17G6, as successor of Grenviile, 
the author of the Stamp Act. Edmund Burke, and men of like character were 
called into his cabinet, and the Americans had some hopes of justice under hia 
administration. But his cabinet was soon dissolved, and he was succeeded by 
Lord North, author of the 1 3a Act and kindred measures. 



RICHARD STOCKTON. 79 

ceived by the Lord Provost, in the name of the citizens, 
and by a unanimous vote, the freedom of the city was 
conferred upon him. During his stay there he visited 
Doctor Witherspoon, at Paisley, who afterward became 
a resident in the Colonies, and a signer of the instrument 
declaring their emancipation from British rule.* 

Improvement in his profession being his chief object in 
visiting Great Britain, Mr. Stockton was a constant at- 
tendant upon the higher courts when in London, and 
often visited the theatre to witness the eloquence of Gar- 
rick. He returned home in September, 1767, and was 
escorted to his residence by the people, by whom he was 
greatly beloved. 

In 1768, Mr. Stockton was chosen a member of the 
royal executive council of New Jersey, and in 1774 he 
was placed upon the bench of the Supreme Court of that 
Province. Having been honored by the personal regard 
of the King, and possessing an ample fortune, it would 
have seemed natural for him to have remained loyal ; but, 
like Lewis Morris, his principles could not be governed 
by self-interest, and he espoused the cause of the patriots. 
The Provincial Congress of New Jersey elected him a 
delegate to the General Congress in 1776, and he took 
his seat in time to take part in the debate upon the propo- 
sition for Independence. At first, he seemed doubtful of 
the expediency of an immediate Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, but after hearing the sentiments of nearly ail, 
and the conclusive arguments of John Adams, he voted in 
favor of the measure, and cheerfully signed the Declaration. 

In September of that year, Mr. Stockton received an 
equal number of votes with Mr. Livingston, for Governor 

* Dr. Witherspoon had been appointed President of Nassau Hall College, at 
Princeton, a short time before the visit of Mr. Stockton, but declined its accep- 
tance. It is supposed that the latter persuaded hhn to reconsider his decision, toil 
a ahort time after his return to America Dr. W. accepted the office. 



80 NEW JERSEY 

of New Jersey, but for urgent reasons, his friends gave 
the election to his competitor. He was at once elected 
Chief Justice of the State, but he declined the honor, and 
was re-elected to the General CongreLi. He was an ac- 
tive and influential member, and with Mr. Clymer, was 
sent, during the autumn, on a delicate mission to visit the 
northern army under General Schuyler.* Soon after his 
return, he was obliged to hasten to his family to prevent 
their capture by the British army, then pursuing Wash- 
ington and his little band across New Jersey.f He re- 
moved them to the house of a friend about thirty miles 
distant, but there he was captured by a party of refugees, 
who were guided to his retreat by a treacherous neigh- 
boi of his friend. He remained a prisoner for some time, 
and, on account of his position as one of the signers of 
the Declaration of Independence, he was treated with 
great severity .f The hardships he endured shattered his 
constitution^ and when he found himself almost a beggar, 
through the vandalism of the British in destroying his es- 
tate, and by the depreciation of the continental paper cur- 
rency, he was seized with a despondency from which he 
never recovered. A cancer in his neck also hurried him 
toward the grave, and he died on the twenty-eighth of 
February, 1781, in the fifty-first year of his age. 

* From causes which seem never to have been fully explained, the army of 

the north was then in a wretched condition, and the object of the mission of Mr. 

. Stockton and his colleagues, was to inquire into the causes and propose a remedy. 

t After the success of Cornwallis in capturing Fort Washington, on York Is- 
land, Washington crossed the Hudson with the main army of Americans, and for 
three weeks he was closely pursued by the British General across New Jersey to 
Trenton, where the memorable crossing of the Delaware took place. 

J He was first placed in the common jail at Amboy, and afterward he was car* 
tied to the old Provost prison in New York, which stood where the present Hall 
of Records, in the Park, now 6tands. 

§i He suffered greatly from cold, and at one time he was kept twenty -four hours 
without a particle of food. Congress took up his cause, and threatened Lord 
Howe with retaliation upon British prisoners. This had its effect, and he ww 
sron afterward exchanged. 




ohn Witherspoon was born in the par- 
ish of Yester, near Edinburgh, Scotland, 
on the fifth of Febfiary, 1722. He was 
a lineal descendant of the great reformer 
John Knox. His father was a minister 
in the Scottish church, at Yester, and 
was greatly beloved. He took great pains to have the 
early education of his son based upon sound moral and 
religious principles, and early determined to fit him for 
the gospel ministry. His primary education was received 
6 




81 



89 NEW JERSEY. 

in a school at Haddington, and at the age of fourteen 
years he was placed in the University of Edinburgh. He 
was a very diligent student, and, to the delight of his fa- 
ther, his mind wa£ specially directed toward sacred litera- 
ture. He went through a regular theological course of 
study, and at the age of twenty -two years he graduated, a 
licensed preacher. J T e was requested to remain in Yes- 
ter, as an assistant of "s father, but he accepted a call at 
Beith, in the west of Scotland, where he labored faithfully 
for several years.* 

From Beith he removed to Paisley, where he became 
widely known for his piety and learning. He was sever- 
ally invited to take charge of a parish and flock, at Dub- 
lin, in Ireland ; Dundee, in Scotland ; and Rotterdam, in 
Holland; but he declined them all. In 1766 he was in- 
vited, by a unanimous vote of the trustees of New Jer- 
sey College, to become its president, but this, too, he de- 
clined, partly on account of the unwillingness of his wife 
to leave the land of her nativity. But being strongly urged 
by Richard Stockton (afterward his colleague in Con- 
gress, and fellow signer of the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence), then on a visit to that country, he accepted the ap- 
pointment, and sailed for America. He arrived at Prince- 
ton with his family, in Align.*, 1768, and on the seven- 
teenth of that month he was inaugurated president of the 
College. His name and his exertions wrought a great 
change in the affairs of that institution, and from a low 
condition in its finances and other essential elements of 
prosperity, it soon rose to a proud eminence among the 
institutions of learning in America.t 

* While he was stationed at Beith, tht battle of Falkirk took place, betweea 
the forces of George the Second, and Prince Charles Stuart, during the commo- 
don known as the Scotch rebellion, in 1745-6. Mr. Witherspoon and others went 
to witness the battle, which proved victorious to the rebels : and he, with several 
others, were taken prisoners, and for some time confined inf. ie castle of Doune. 

t For along time party feuds had retarded the healthy growth of the College, 
and its finances were 1b such a wretched condition, that resuscitation seemed ai* 



JOHN WITHERSPOON. 83 

When the British army invaded New Jersey, the Col- 
lie at Princeton was broken up, and the extensive knowl- 
edge of Dr. Witherspoon was called into play in a vastly 
different arena. He was called upon early in 1776, to 
assist in the formation of a new Constitution for New Jer- 
sey,* and his patriotic sentiments and sound judgment 
were there so conspicuous, that in June of that year, he 
was elected a delegate to the General Congress. He had 
already formed a decided opinion in favor of Indepen- 
dence, and he gave his support to the resolution declaring 
the States free forever.t On the second of August, 1776, 
he affixed his signature to the Declaration. 

Doctor Witherspoon was a member of Congress from 
the period of his first election until 1782, except a part of 
the year 17S0, and so strict was he in his attendance, that 
it was a very rare thing to find him absent. He was placed 
upon the most important committees, and intrusted with 
delicate commissions. He took a conspicuous part in both 
military and financial matters, and his colleagues were as- 
tonished at the versatility of his knowledge. 

After the restoration of peace in 1783, Doctor With- 
erspoon withdrew from public life, except so far as his 
duties as a minister of the gospel brought him before his 
flock. He endeavored to resuscitate the prostrate insti- 
tution over which he had presided. Although to his son- 
in-law, Vice President Smith, was intrusted the active du- 

most hopoless. But the presence of Doctor Witherspoon silenced party dissen* 
eions, and awakened new confidence in the institution ; and the province of New 
Jersey, which had hitherto withheld its fostering aid, now came forward and en 
dowed professorships in it. 

* After the abdication of the Colonial Governors, in 1774 and 1775, provisional 
governments were formed in the various States, and popular Constitutions were 
framed, by which they were severally governed under the old confederacy. 

t He took his seat in Congress, on the twenty -ninth of June, 1776. On the first 
of July, when the subject of the Declaration of Independence was discussed, a 
distinguished member remarked, that " the people are not ripe for a Declaration 
of Independence." Doctor Witherspoon observed : ■' In my judgment, sir wa 
are not only ripe, but rotting." 



84 NEW JERSEY. 

ties in the effort, yet it cannot be doubted that the name 
and influence of Doctor Withe rspoon were chiefly instru- 
mental in effecting the result which followed. After ur- 
gent solicitation, he consented to go to Great Britain and 
ask for pecuniary aid for the college. In this movement 
his own judgment could not concur, for he knew enough 
of human nature to believe that while political resentment 
was still so warm there against a people who had just cut 
asunder the bond of union with them, no enterprise could 
offer charms sufficient to overcome it. In this he was 
correct, for he collected barely enough to pay the expense 
of his voyage. 

About two years before his death, he lost his eye-sight, 
yet his ministerial duties were not relinquished. Aided 
by the guiding hand of another, he would ascend the pul- 
pit, and with all the fervor of his prime and vigor, break 
the Bread of Life to the eager listeners to his message. 

As a theological writer, Doctor Witherspoon had few 
superiors, and as a statesman he held the first rank. In 
him were centred the social elements of an upright citi- 
zen, a fond parent,* a just tutor, and humble Christian ; 
*\nd when, on the tenth of November, 1794, at the age 
jf nearly seventy-three years, his useful life closed, it was 
widely felt that a " great man had fallen in Israel." 

* Doctor Witherspoon was twice married. By his first wife, a Scottish lady, he 
had three sons and two daughters. One of the latter (Frances) married Doctor 
David Ramsay, of South Carolina, one of the earliest historians of the American 
Revolution. She was a woman of extraordinary piety, and the memoirs of but 
few females have been more widelj' circulated and profitably re.id, than wero 
a«r«, written by her husband. 




rancis Hopkinson was born of English 
parents, at Philadelphia, in the year 1737 
His mother was the daughter of the 
Bishop of Worcester, and, like her hus- 
band, was well educated, and moved 
in the polite circles of England. They 

maintained the same standing in Philadelphia, and the 

subject of this sketch had every advantage in early life 

which social position could give him. 

Francis was only fourteen years old when his father 

died, and then the whole care of a large family of chil 

85 




86 NEW JERSEY. 

dren devolved upon his mother, whose inuome was not 
very ample. She imparted to Francis his primary edu- 
cation until he was fitted for the college of Philadelphia, 
wherein he was placed. On leaving that institution, he 
commenced the study of law, and was admitted to prac- 
tice in 1765, He went to England the same year for the 
purpose of visiting his relatives and improving his mind. 
He returned in 1768, and was soon after married to Miss 
Ann Borden, of Bordentown, New Jersey. 

Mr. Hopkinson was a poet and a wit ;* and a knowl- 
edge of his superior talents having reached the ears of 
the British ministers, he was appointed to a lucrative of- 
fice in the State of New Jersey, soon after his marriage. 
This he held until his* republican principles were too mani- 
fest, by both word and deed, for the minions of British 
power here to mistake, and he was deprived of his 
office. In the meanwhile, he had been growing rapidly 
in the esteem of the people of New Jersey, and in 1776 
he was elected by them a delegate to the General Con- 
gress He supported there, by his vote, the Declaration 
of Independence, and joyfully placed his signature to it. 

Mr. Hopkinson held the office of Loan Commissioner 
for a number of years ; and on the death of his friend and 
colleague in Congress, George Ross, he was appointed 
Judge of Admiralty for the State of Pennsylvania. He 
held that office until 1790, when President Washington, 
properly appreciating his abilities, appointed him District 
Judge of the same State, which office he filled with singu- 
lar fidelity. 

Mr. Mopkinson was one of those modest, quiet men, 

• His pen was not distinguished for depth, but there was a genuine humor it 
his productions, which made him widely popular. A majority of his poetical ef« 
fusions were of an ephemeral nature, and were forgotten, in a degree, with tne 
occasion which called them forth ; yet a few have been preserved, among whict 
may be mentioned " The Battle of Vie Kegs," a ballad, or sort of epic, of iniml 
table humor. 



JOHN HART. 87 

on whom the mantle of true genius so frequently falls. 
Although ardent in his patriotism and keenly alive to the 
events in the midst of which he was pi ced, y .?t he sel- 
dom engaged in debate ; and his public life is not marked 
by those varied and striking features, so prominently dis- 
played in the lives of many of his compatriots. 

For several years Judge Hopkinson was afflicted witli 
gout m the head, which finally caused a fit of apoplexy 
that terminated his life in two hours after the attack, in 
May, 1791. He was in the fifty-third year of his age. 
He left a widow and five children. 



eyV^* 



Js&nr; 




ne oPthe most unbending patriots 
of the Revolution was John Hart, 
the New Jersey farmer. His fa- 
ther, Edward Hart, was also a thrifty 
farmer, and a loyal subject of his 
King. In 1759 he raised a volun- 
teer corps, which he named " The 
Jersey Blues," and joined Wolfe at Quebec in time to 
see that hero fall, but the English victorious. He then 
retired to his farm, and ever afterward held a high place 
in the esteem and confidence of the people. The time of 
the birth of his son John is not on record, and but few 
incidents of his early life are known* 

* His contemporaries represent him as about sixty years of age when firrt 
elected to Congress. If so, he must hi re been born about the close (A tba 
reign of Queen Anne, 1714. 



fi6 NEW" JEKSEY. 

Mi. Hart pursued the avocation of his father, and was 
in quite independent circumstances when the Stamp Act 
and its train of evils attracted his attention, and aroused 
his sympathies for his oppressed countrymen in JBost m, 
and elsewhere, where the heel of tyranny was planted. 
Although living in the secluded agricultural district of 
Hopewell, in Hunterdon county, yet he was fully conver- 
sant with the movements of public affairs at home and 
abroad, and he united with others in electing delegates to 
the Colonial Congress that convened in New York city, 
in 1765. From that time, until the opening scenes of the 
war, Mr. Hart was active in promoting the cause of free- 
dom ; and his fellow citizens manifested their apprecia- 
tion of his services, by electing him a delegate to the first 
Continental Congress, in 1774. He was re-elected in 
1775, but finding that his estate and family affairs needed 
his services, he resigned his seat, and for a time retired from 
public life. He was, however, elected a member of tho 
Provincial Congress of New Jersey, and was Vice Presi- 
dent of that body. 

The talents of Mr. Hart were considered too valuable 
to the public, to remain in an inactive state, and in Feb- 
ruary, 1776, he was again elected a delegate to the Gen- 
eral Congress. He was too deeply impressed with the par- 
amount importance of his country's claims, to permit hin? 
to refuse the office ; and he took his seat again in that 
body, and voted for and signed the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 

Nothing would have seemed more inimical to Mr, 
Hart's private interests, than this act, which was the har 
binger of open hostilities, for his estate was peculiarly ex 
posed to the fury of the enemy. Nor was that fury with 
held when New Jersey was invaded by the British and 
their mercenary allies, the Hessians. The signers of the 
Declaration everywhere were marked for vengeance, and 



JOHN HART- S9 

when the enemy made their conquering r escent upon New 
Jersey,* Mr. Hart's estate was among the first to feel the 
effects of the desolating inroad.t The blight fell, not only 
upon his fortune, but upon his person, and he did not live 
to see the sunlight of Peace and Independence gladden 
the face of his country. He died in the year 1780 (the 
gloomiest period of the War of Independence), full of 
years and deserved honors. 

* After the capture of Fort Washington, on York Island, in November, 1776, 
Lord Cornwallis crossed the Hudson at Dobb'* Ferry, with six thousand men, 
and attacked Fort Lee opposite. To save themselves, the Americans were obliged 
to make a hasty retreat, leaving behind them their munitions of war and all their 
stores. The garrison joined the main army at Hackensack which for three weeks 
fled across the level country of New Jersey, before the pursuing enemy, at the 
end of which time a bare remnant of it was left. The troops dispirited by late 
reverses, left in large numbers as fast as their term of enlistment expired, and 
returned to their homes; and by the last of November the American armynuni 
bered scarcely three thousand troops, independent of a detachment left at 
White Plains, under General Lee. The country was so level that it afforded 
no strong position to fortify ; indeed, so necessarily rapid had been the retreat, 
that no time was allowed for pause to erect defences. Newark. New Brunswick, 
Princeton. Trenton, aud smaller places, successively fell into the hands of the 
enemy, and so hot was the pursuit, that the rear of the Americans was often 
in sight of the van of the British. On the eighth of December, Washington and 
his army crossed the Delaware in boats, and Cornwallis arrived at Tionton just 
in time to see the last boat reach the Pennsylvania shore. — " 1776, or the War oj 
Independence," page 209. 

t Mr. Hart's family, having timely warning of the approach of the enemy i» 
pursuit of Washington, fled to a place of safety. His farm was ravaged, his tim 
ber destroyed, his cattle and stock butchered for the use of tin ^r^sh army, 
and he himself was hunted like a noxious beast, not daring to r^«r»t ■» * vo nights 
under the same roof. And it was not until Washington's racwsH &» '<»' Wile oi 
Trenton, that this dreadful state of himself and family was ended. 




braham Clark was born at Eliza 
bethtown, in New Jersey, on the 
fifteenth of February, 1726. He 
was the only child of his parents, 
and was brought up in the employ- 
ment of his father, a farmer. H« 
was quite studious, but his early education was considera- 
bly neglected. In fact, being an onlv child, he was, as is 

90 




ABRAHAM CLARK. 9\. 

loo frequently *he case, petted, and allowed to follow tn«» 
guide of his inclinations ; and hence his education might 
be termed miscellaneous. 

A slender constitution warned him that he could not pur- 
sue, successfully, the rough labor of a farm, and he turned 
his attention to the study of mathematics, and of law. He 
became a good jn-actical surveyor ; and though he never 
went through a course of legal study, yet he transacted a 
good deal of law business in Elizabethtown for a number 
of years, particularly in the drawing* up of deeds, mort- 
gages, and other legal papers. He acquired the universal 
esteem and confidence of the people, and received the 
enviable title of "Poor man's Counsellor." 

Mr. Clark held several offices under the royal govern- 
ment, among which was that of sheriff of Essex county ; 
and in all of them he exhibited great fidelity. But when 
the question of political freedom or slavery was presented 
to his mind, he did not for a moment hesitate in his choice, 
but boldly espoused the republican cause. He was placed 
upon the first committee of vigilance organized in New 
Jersey, and was distinguished for his watchfulness and un- 
tiring activity. 

In 1776, Mr. Clark was elected a delegate to the Con- 
tinental Congress, and having ample instruction from the 
Provincial Congress of New Jersey, he was not at all at 
a loss to know how to vote for his constituents, when the 
proposition of Independence was brought forth. He first 
ook his seat in that body, in June, and he voted for and 
signed the Declaration of Independence, although, like 
the rest of his colleagues from New Jersey, he was thus 
jeoparding the safety of his property, and lives of himself 
and family* He remained an active member of the Gen- 

* Although Mr. Clark did not suffer in person and estate, like Mr. Stockton and 
Mr. Hart, yet his property was much reduced in value, by his necessary neglect 
of it- His two sons took up arms and were captured. They were for a time in 



92 NEW JERSEY. 

eral Congress until peace was proclaimed, in 1783, with 
the exception of one term. 

In 1788, Mr. Clark was again elected to the General Con- 
gress. In the interim he was a member of the State Legis- 
lature, and an active politician. He early perceived the 
defects of the old confederation, and was one of the dele- 
gates elected by New Jersey to the Convention that framed 
ihe present Constitution of the United States, in 1787. 
He was, however, prevented from attending by ill health. 
He was appointed one of the commissioners for settling 
the accounts of New Jersey with the General Govern- 
ment, and ably did he discharge the arduous duty. He 
was elected a member of the first Congress under the 
present Federal Government, and continued an active 
member of that body until near the close of his life. 

When Congress adjourned, in June, 1794, Mr. Clark 
retired from public life ; and early in the autumn of that 
year, he died of inflammation of the brain, (caused by a 
coup de soliel, or " stroke of the sun,") in the sixty-ninth 
year of his age. He was buried in the church-yard, at 
Rahway, New Jersey. 

Mi. Clark was a warm partisan, and his feelings of at- 
tachment o^ repulsion were very strong. He had wit- 
nessed so much of the cruelty and oppressions of Great 
Britain, in her war upon the declared freedom of the 
Colonies, that his feelings of hatred could not be soothed 
by the treaty of peace, although he patriotically acquiesced 
in whatever tended to his country's good. He therefore 
took sides with France when questions concerning her 
came up in Congress ; and, early in 1794, he laid before 
Congress a resolution for suspending all intercourse with 
Great Britain, until every item of the treaty of peace should 
be complied with. It was not sanctioned by Congress. 

carcerated in the Jersey prison-ship, and suffered all the horrors of that confin© 
oaent, until released by a final exchauge of prisoners. 




°flrfyt. 



&?yrv<f 



obert Morris, the distinguished patriot 
and financier of the Revolution, was bom 
in Lancashire, England, in January, 1733. 
His father was a Liverpool merchant, ex- 
tensively engaged in the American trade, 
and when Robert was but a small child, he 
left him in the care of his grandmother, 
came to this country, and settled at Oxford on the east- 
ern shore of Chesapeake Bay. He finally sent for his 
family, and Robert was :hirteen years old when he arrived. 
He was placed in a sc >do1 at Philadelphia, but the defi 

93 




94 I ENNSYLVANTA. 

ciencies of his teacher allowed him but slight advantage in 
the obtainment of knowledge.* 

Young Morris was placed in the counting room of Mr. 
Charles Willing, one of the leading merchants of Phila- 
delphia, when he was fifteen years okl, and about the 
same time he became an orphan by the sudden death of 
his father.! He was greatly esteemed by Mr. Willing, 
who gave him every advantage his business afforded ; and 
at the death of his master and friend, he was a finished 
merchant.f 

In 1754, Mr. Morris formed a mercantile business part- 
nership with Mr. Thomas Willing. The firm soon be- 
came the most extensive importing-house in Philadelphia, 
and rapidly increased in wealth and standing. After the 
passage of the Stamp Act and the Tea Act, and non-im- 
portation agreements became general in the commercial 
cities of the colonies,§ Willing and Morris, notwithstand- 
ing the great loss of business it would occasion, not only 
cheerfully entered into the plan, but did all in their power 
to induce others to do likewise. But it was not until the 
tragedy at Lexington aroused the fiercest indignation of 
the colonists, and extinguished all hope of reconciliation, 
that Mr. Morris took an active part in public affairs.|j Thai 

* On being chid by hia father for his tardiness in learning, he remarked : 
44 Why, sir, 1 have learned all that he could teach me." 

t A ship having arrived from Liverpool, consigned to Mr. Morris the elder, ho 
invited several friends to an entertainment on board. When they retired, a salute 
was fired, and a wad from one of the guns hit Mr. Morris upon the arm. The 
wound was severe, mortified, and in a few days terminated his life. 

I As an evidence of the general good conduct of Mr. Morris, it is related, that 
Mi . Willing, on his death-bed, said to him : " Robert, always continue to act aa 
you have done." 

§ One of the measures adopted by the Colonists to force Great Britain to do 
them justice, was that of American merchants everywhere agreeing not to im- 
port anything from the mother-country. This had a powerful effect upon Parlia- 
ment (for in the lower House the mercantile interest was strongly represented) 
and led to the modification of several stringent measures. These agreements, of 
course, seriously atfected merchants here, and therein their patriotism was made 
peculiarly manifest. 

H It ia said that Mr. Morris, and a number of others, members of the .Sit 



ROBERT MORRIS. 95 

event called him forth, and in November of the same 
year," he was elected by the Legislature of 
Pennsylvania, a delegate to the General Con- 
gress. His business talents were at once appreciated i* 
that body, and he was placed upon the " secret com 
mittee,"* and also a committee to devise ways and mean*. 
for providing a naval armament. In the spring of 17 76 
Congress chose him a special commissioner to negotiate 
bills of exchange, and to take other measures to procure 
money for the Government. 

Mr. Morris was again elected to Congress on the eigh 
teenth of July, 1776, fourteen days after the Declaration 
of Independence was adopted ; and being in favor of the 
measure, he affixed his signature thereto on the second of 
August following. His labors in Congress were inces- 
sant, and he always looked with perfect confidence to the 
period when peace and independence should crown the 
efforts of the patriots. Even when the American army 
under Washington, had dwindled down to a handful of 
half-naked, half-famished militia, during the disastrous re- 
treat across New Jersey at the close of 1776, he evinced 
his confidence that final success would ensue, by loaning 
at that time, upon his individual responsibility, ten thou- 
sand dollars. This materially assisted in collecting together 
and paying that gallant band with which Washington re- 
crossed the Delaware, and won the glorious victory at 

George's Society, were at dinner, celebrating the anniversary of St. George's day, 
when the news of the battle of Lexington reached them. Astonishment and in 
dignation filled the company, and they soon dispersed. A few remained and dis- 
cussed the great question of American freedom : and there, within that festive 
hall, did Robert Morris and a few others, by a solemn vow, dedicate their lives, 
their fortunes, and their honor, to the sacred cause of the Revolution. 

* The duties of the secret committee consisted in managing the financial af- 
fairs of the government. It was a position of great trust, for they frequently had 
funds placed in their hands to be disposed of according to their discretion — like 
the " secret service money" of the present day, placed in the hands of the Presi 
dent, with discretionary powers, it being inimical to the general good to take p"aE> 
lie action upon such disburses ants. 



96 PENNSYLVANIA. 

Trenton.* Many instances of a similar nature are re- 
lated, where the high character of Mr. Morris enabled 
him to procure money when the government could not, 
and his patriotism never faltered in inducing him to apply 
it to the public benefit. 

In 1781, the darkest period of the war, Mr. Morris, in 
connection with other citizens, organized a banking insti- 
tution in Philadelphia, for the purpose of issuing paper 
money that should receive the public confidence, for the 
government bills were becoming almost worthless. This 
scheme had the desired effect, and the aid it rendered to 
the cause was incalculable. During that year, upon the 
urgent solicitation of Congress, Mr. Morris accepted the 
appointment of general financial agent of the United 
States, in other words, Secretary of the Treasury. It 
was a service which no other man in the country seemec 
competent to perform, and that Congress well knew. Hi* 
ousiness talent, and his extensive credit at home anc 4 
abroad, were brought to bear in this vocation, and upon 
nim alone, for a long time, rested the labor of supplying 
a famished and naked army and furnishing other neces- 
sary supplies for the public service. Congress, at thai 
lime, could not have obtained a loan of one thousand dol 
lars, yet Robert Morris effected loans upon his own 
credit, of tens of thousands. The Bank of North America 
was put in successful operation, and there is no doubt thafc 
these patriotic services of Robert Morris present the chief 

* When Congress fled to Baltimore, on the approach of the British across New 
jersey, Mr. Morris, after removing his family into the country, returned to, and 
remained in Philadelphia. Almost in despair, Washington wrote to him, and in- 
formed him that to make any successful movement whatever, a considerable sum or 
money must be had. It was a requirement that seemed almost impossible to 
meet. Mr. Morris left his counting-room for his lodgings in utter despondency. On 
his way he met a wealthy Quaker, and made known his wants. " What security 
can'st thou give ?" asked he. " My note and my honor," promptly replied Mr. 
Morris. The Quaker replied : " Robert, thou shalt have it" — It was sent tt 
Washington, the Delaware was crossed, and victory won I 



ROBERT MORRIS. 97 

reason why the Continental army was not at that time 
disbanded by its own act. And it has been justly re- 
marked, that : " If it were not demonstrable by official 
records, posteiity would hardly be made to believe that 
the campaign of 1781, which resulted in the capture of 
Cornwallis, and virtually closed the Revolutionary War, 
wa5 sustained wholly on the credit of an individual mer- 
chant."* 

After the conclusion of peace, Mr. Morris served twice 
in the Legislature of Pennsylvania ; and he was a dele- 
gate to the Convention that framed the Constitution of 
the United States. He was elected a Senator under that 
instrument, and took his seat at the first meeting of Con- 
gress in New York to organize the government in ac- 
cordance with its provisions. 

In the selection of his cabinet, President Washington 
was very anxious to have Mr. Morris Secretary of the 
Treasury, but he declined. Washington asked him to 
name a candidate, and he at once mentioned General Al- 
exander Hamilton. 

Mr. Morris served a regular term in the United States 
Senate, and then retired forever from public life. By his 
liberal expenditures and free proffers of his private ob- 
ligations for the public benefit, he found his ample for- 
tune very much diminished at the close of hostilities ; and 
by embarking the remainder in the purchase of wild lands, 

* At the time Washington was preparing, in his camp upon the Hudson, in 
Westchester county, to attack Sir Henry Clinton in New York, in 1781, Mr. 
Morris and Judge Peters of Pennsylvania were then at headquarters. Wash- 
ington received a letter from Count de Grasse, announcing his determination 
not to sail for New York. He was bitterly disappointed, but almost before the 
cloud had passed from his brow, he conceived the expedition against Corn- 
wallis. at Yorktown. " What can you do for me ?" said Washington to Mr. 
Peters. " With money, everything, without it, nothing," he replied, at the same 
time turning with anxious look toward Mr. Morris. " Let me know the sum you 
desire," said Mr. Morris ; and before noon Washington's plan and estimates were 
complete. Mr. Morris promised liim the amount, and he raised it upon his own 
responsibility. 

7 



98 PENNSYLVANIA. 

in the State of New York,* under the imj. -ession that emi- 
grants from the old world would flow in a vast and cease- 
less current to this " land of the free," he became erreatly 
embarrassed in his pecuniary affairs, and it preyed seri- 
ously upon his mind. This misfortune, and the inroads 
which asthma had made upon his constitution, proved a 
canker at the root of his bodily vigor, and he sunk to rest 
in the grave, on the eighth day of May, 1806, in the sev- 
enty-third year of his age, leaving a widow with whom he 
had lived in uninterrupted domestic happiness for thirty- 
seven years.t 

* In consequence of some old claims of Massachusetts to a large portion of the 
territory of the State of New York, the latter State, in 1786, in order to settle the 
matter, ceded to the former more than six millions of acres, reserving, however, 
the right of sovereignty. Massachusetts sold the larger portion of this tract to 
Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham, for one million of dollars • and in 1790, they 
in turn sold to Mr. Morris 1,204,000 acres, for sixteen cents per acre. He afterward 
resold this tract to Sir William Pultney. The original purchasers from Massachu- 
setts, unable to fulfil their contract, surrendered to the State a large tract, to which 
the Indian titles had been extinguished. This tract Mr. Morris bought in 1796, 
and after selling considerable portions lying upon the Genesee river, he mortv 
gaged the residue to Wilhelm Willink, of Amsterdam, and eleven associates, who 
styled themselves the "Holland Land Company." Mr. Morris was unable to 
meet his engagement, and the company foreclosed, and acquired full title to the 
land. They opened a sales office in Batavia, Genesee county, which now exists; 
end they still own large tracts of land in Western New York. 

t In 1769, Mr. Morris married Miss Mary White, sister of the ate veaerabto 
Bishop White, of Pennsylvania. 





octor Benjamin Rush was born at Ber- 
berry, about twelve miles northeast of Phil- 
adelphia, on the twenty-fourth day of De- 
cember, 1745. He was descended from 
an officer of that name in Cromwell's army, 
T$& who, after the death of the Protector, emi- 
grated to America, and settled in Pennsylvania. Benja- 
min was his grandson. 

99 



•wr® 



100 PENNSYLVANIA. 

The father of Benjamin Rush died when he was only 
eiK years old, and he and a brother were left entirely to 
the care of his mother. She was anxious to give Benja- 
min a classical education, but the earnings from her small 
farm did not supply her with adequate means. Intent 
upon her purpose, she sold her land and moved into Phil- 
adelphia, where she commenced some commercial pur- 
suit. She was successful ; and her wish to give her eldest 
son a liberal education, was gratified. At the age of 
nine years he was placed under the care of the Rev. Dr. 
Findlay, who was the principal of an academy at Notting- 
ham, in Maryland. After completing his preparatory 
studies, young Rush entered Princeton College ,« 
where he took his degree in 1760, at the age of 
sixteen years. 

The study of the law was the voluntary choice of young 
Rush, but by the advice of Dr. Findlay, he selected the 
practice of medicine as a profession, and placed himself 
under the direction of the celebrated Doctor Redman, of 
Philadelphia. In 1766 he went to England with the view 
of professional improvement, where he remained two 
years, attending the lectures at the best hospitals and med- 
ical schools in London. In the summer of 1768, he went 
to Paris, where he added much to his stock of knowl- 
edge ; and in the autumn of that year he returned to Amer- 
ica, bearing the title of " Doctor of Medicine," for which 
a diploma was conferred at Edinburgh. 

Doctor Rush commenced practice in Philadelphia, and 
before the first year of his professional career was com- 
pleted, he was called in consultation with some of 'the 
most eminent practitioners of that city. His polished 
manners, superior intellect, kind deportment in the sick 
room, and unwearied attention to the calls of the poor 
made him very popular, and he soon had an extensive 
and lucrative practice. Students from all parts of the 



BENJAMIN IUSH. 101 

United States, after the war, flocked to Philadelphia to 
avail themselves of his lectures.* 

Doctor Rush espoused the patriot cause immediately 
after his return to America, in 1768, and his pen proved 
a powerful instrument, in connection with his personal ex- 
ertions, in arousing the people to action. He was so- 
licited to take a seat in the General Congress of 1775, 
but declined ; but when, in 1776, some of the Pennsyl- 
vania delegates in Congress refused to vote for Independ- 
ence and withdrew from their seats, he was elected to 
fill one of them, and obeyed the call of duty by accepting 
it. He was not a member when the Declaration was 
adopted, but was present and signed it on the second of 
August following. 

j In 1777, Congress appointed Doctor Rush to the office 
of physician-general of the military hospitals of the middle 
department, in which he was of great utility. He did not 
serve again in Congress after that appointment ; in fact, 
with the exception of being a member of the Convention 
of Pennsylvania, which adopted the Federal Constitution, 
he did not actively participate in any public duties. He 
was appointed president of the mint in 1788, which office 
he held fourteen years. 

Although the services of Doctor Rush were eminently 
useful as a statesman, yet as a medical practitioner and 
writer, he was most distinguished and is more intimately 
known. He was appointed professor of chemistry in th« 
Medical College of Philadelphia, in 1769, the year after 
his return from Europe. He was made professor of the 
theory and practice of medicine in 1789 ; and at that time 
he also held the professorship of the Institutes of Medi- 

* Students came even from Europe, to attend his lectures; and in 1812, the 
year before he died, those in the class who attended his lectures, amounted to 
four hundred and thirty. Within the last nine years of his life, the number o* 
his private pupils exceeded fifty. It is stated by his biographer, that during hi* 
life he gave instruction to more than two thousand pupils. 



102 PENNSYLVANIA. 

icine and of Chemical Science, in the Me -ical College of 
Pennsylvania. On the resignation of Doctor Kuhn, in 
1796, he succeeded that gentleman in the professorship 
of the practice of medicine. These three professorships 
he held during his life. 

Doctor push's eminent qualities as a medical practi 
doner, a philanthropist, and a Christian, were fully de- 
reloped when the yellow fever rapidly depopulated Phila- 
delphia, in 1793. It was so malignant, that all the usual 
remedies failed, and the best medical skill was completely 
foiled. Many physicians became alarmed for their own 
safety and fled from the city ; but Doctor Rush, and a 
few of his attached pupils and friends, remained to aid the 
sick and dying, and, if possible, check the march of the 
destroyer. He at length had a severe attack of the fever, 
and some of his pupils fell victims ; but so long as he was 
able to get from his bed, he did not remit his labors.* 

The impress of Dr. Rush's mind and energy is upon 
several public institutions. He formed the Philadelphia 
Dispensary in 1786, and he was one of the principal 
founders of Dickerson College, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. 
In addition to honorary membership in many literary and 
scientific societies abroad, he held various offices in be- 
nevolent and philosophical institutions at home.t 

* When alarm seized upon many of the resident physicians of Philadelphia, and 
they fled from the danger, Doctor Rush called together some of his pupils and 
professional friends, and in an impressive manner laid before them their solenn 
responsibilities to their profession and to the public. He portrayed the effects 
upon the public mind which the flight of physicians would produce — predisposing 
the system, through fear, to take the disease — and he conjured them to remain. 
He concluded his earnest appeal, by saying : " As for myself, I am determined to 
remain. I may fall a victim to the epidemic, and so may you, gentlemen. ButI 
prefer, since I am placed here by Divine Providence, to fall in performing my 
duty, if such must be the consequence of staying upon the ground, than to secure 
my life by fleeing from the post of duty allotted in the Providence of God. 
I will remain, if I remain alone." He and a few of his noble-hearted pupils re- 
mained and performed their duty faithfully. His written description of that dread- 
ful epidemic, is one of the most thrilling pieces of composition in our language. 

t Among others, he was President of the American Society for the abolition o« 
•Uvery ; President cf the Philadelphia Medical Society ; Vice President oi the 



BENJAMIN RUSH. 103 

As a patriot, Doctor Rush was firm and inflexible ; as 
a professional man he was skilful, candid, and honorable ; 
as a thinker and writer, he was profound ; as a Christian, 
zealous and consistent ; and in his domestic relations, he 
was the centre of a circle of love and true affection. 
Through life the Bible was a "lamp to his feet" — his 
guide in all things appertaining to his duty toward God 
and man. Amid all his close and arduous pursuit of hu- 
man knowledge, he never neglected to " search the Scrip- 
tures" for that knowledge which points the soul aright in 
its journey to the Spirit Land. His belief in revealed re- 
ligion, and in the Divine inspiration of the Sacred Wri- 
ters, is manifested in many of his scientific productions ; 
and during that period, at the close of the last century 
when the sentiments of infidel France were infused into 
the minds of men in high places here, Doctor Rush's 
principles stood firm, amd his opinions never wavered. 

The life of this truly great man terminated on the nine* 
teenth day of April, 1813, when he was in the sixty-eighth 
year of his age. During his last illness, the public mind 
was greatly affected, and his house was constantly thronged 
with people inquiring concerning the probable result of 
the disease that was upon him. When death closed his 
eyes, every citizen felt that a dear friend had been taken 
away, and a general gloom overspread the community. 

Philadelphia Bible Society , one of the Vice Presidents of the American Phfl* 
^-, wphical Society, &c., &c. 





robably a greater man than Benja- 
min Franklin never lived, regarded 
with that analytical discrimination which 
distinguishes true greatness in inherent 
qualities rather than in brilliant exter- 
^nal displays ; and in almost every par- 
ticular characteristic of a man, he presented a model of 
excellence of the highest standard. 

<* 104 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 105 

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, 
on the seventeenth day of January, 1706. His father was 
a true Puritan, and emigrated hither from England, in 
1682. He soon afterward married Miss Folger, a native 
of Boston. Being neither a mechanic nor farmer, he 
tinned his attention to the business of a soap-boiler and 
tallow-chandler, which was his occupation for life. 

The parents of Benjamin wished him to be a minister 
of the gospel, and they began to educate him with that end 
in view, but their slender me? ns were not adequate for 
the object, and the intention was abandoned. He was 
kept at a common school for a few years, and then taken 
into the service of his father. The business did not please 
the boy, and he was entered, on probation, with a cutler. 
The fee for his admission to apprenticeship was too high,* 
and he abandoned that pursuit also, and was put under 
the instruction of an elder brother, who was a printer. 
There he continued until he became quite proficient, and 
all the while he was remarkable for his studiousness, sel- 
dom spending an hour from his books, in idle amuse- 
ment. At length the harmony between himself and brother 
was interrupted, and he left his service and went on board 
of a vessel in the harbor, bound for New York. T n that city 
he could not obtain employment, and he proceeded on 
foot to Philadelphia, where he arrived on a Sabbath morn- 
ing.f He was then but seventeen years old, friendless 
and alone, with but a single dollar in his pocket. He 
soon found employment as compositor in one of the two 

* At that time, as in England at the present day, apprentices, instead of receiv- 
ing any pay for their services, were obliged to pay a bonus, or fee, for the privi- 
lege of becoming an apprentice. 

* It is said that his first appearance in Philadelphia attracted considerable atten- 
tion in the streets. With his spare clothing in his pocket, and a loaf of bread 
under each arm, he wandered about until he came to a Quaker meeting, whero 
he entered, sat down, w <nt to sleep, and slept soundly until worship was closed- 
He was then awakene* by one of the congregation, and he sought some othei 
place of rest. 



106 PENNSYLVANIA. 

printing establishments then in Philadelphia, and was at 
once noticed and esteemed by his employers, for his in- 
dustry and studious habits. 

Having written a letter to a friend at New Castle, in 
Delaware, in which he gave a graphic account of his jour- 
ney from Boston to Philadelphia, which letter was shown 
to Governor Keith, of that province, that functionary be- 
came much interested in the young journeyman printer, 
and invited him to his mansion. Friendship succeeded 
the first interview, and the governor advised him to set 
up business for himself, and offered his patronage. The 
plan of operation was rather an extensive one, and in- 
volved the necessity of making a voyage to England for 
materials. Franklin went to London, but found Sir Wil- 
liam Keith's patronage of so little avail, that he was obliged 
to seek employment for his daily bread. He obtained a 
situation as journeyman printer in one of the principal 
offices there, and by the same line of industry, studious- 
ness, punctuality, and frugality, he soon won to himself 
numerous friends.* Unfortunately he was thrown in the 
way of some distinguished infidels while he was in Lon- 
don, (among whom was Lord Mandeville,) and received 
flattering attentions from them. His mind became- tinc- 
tured with their views, and he was induced to write a 
pamphlet upon deistical metaphysics, a performance which 
he afterward regretted, and candidly condemned. 

With the fruits of his earnings Franklin resolved to take 
a trip to the Continent, but just as he was on the point of 
departure, he received an offer from a mercantile friend 
about to sail for America, to accompany him as a clerk. 
He accepted it, and embarked for home in July, 1726. 

With his new employer, at Philadelphia, Franklin had 
before him a prospect of prosperity and wealth, but soon 

* We have seen the identical Printing Press which was worked by Fr< 
when in London. It is now in the National Museum at Washington city. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 107 

a heavy cloud obscured the bright vision. His friend 
died, and once more Franklin became a journeyman 
printer with his old employer. In a short time he formed 
a partnership with another printer, and commenced busi- 
ness in Philadelphia, where his character, habits, and tal- 
ents, soon gained him warm friends, public confidence, 
and a successful business.* So multifarious were the pub- 
lic and private labors of usefulness of this great man, from 
this period until his death, that our circumscribed limits 
will permit us to notice them only in brief chronological 
Order. 

In 1732, Franklin began his useful annual, called " Poor 
Richard's Almanac." It was widely circulated in the 
Colonies, and in England, and was translated into several 
Continental languages of Europe. It continued until 
1 757. About the same time he commenced a new-paper, 
which soon became the most popular one in the Colonies. 
By constant, persevering study, he acquired a knowledge 
of the Latin, French, Spanish, and Italian languages. He 
projected a literary club, called the Junto, and the books 
which they collected for their use, formed the nucleus of 
the present extensive Philadelphia Library. He wrote 
many pamphlets containing essays upon popular subjects, 
which were read with avidity, and made him very popu- 
lar. With his popularity, his business increased, and his 
pecuniary circumstances became easy in a few years. 

In 1734, he was appointed government printer for 
Pennsylvania, and in 1736 he received the appointment 
of Clerk of the General Assembly. The next year he 
was made postmaster of Philadelphia. The income aris- 
ing from these offices, and from his business, relieved him 
from constant drudgery, and left him leisure for philo* 

* In 1730, he married a young widow lady, whose maiden name was Read. Ha 
had sought her hand before going to England, but she gave it to another. Ha* 
husband died while Fracklin was absent, and their intimacy was renewed aaaa 
after his return. 



108 PENNSYLVANIA. 

iophical pursuits, and the advancement of schemes for the 
public good.* 

In 1741, he commenced the publication of the "Gen- 
eral Magazine and Historical Chronicle, for the Lnnsn 
Plantations," which had a wide circulation. In 1744 he 
was elected a member of the General Assembly,! and 
was annually re-elected, for ten consecutive years. It 
was about this time that he made some of his philosophi- 
cal discoveries, upon the mysterious wings of which his 
fame spread world-wide.} 

In 1753 he was appointed a commissioner to treat with 
the Indians at Carlisle. In 1754, he was a delegate from 
Pennsylvania to a Convention of representatives of the 
Colonies that met at Albany to consult upon the general 
defence and security against the French. He there pro- 
posed an admirable plan of union. § About this time he 
was appointed deputy Postmaster General. He was also 
active in improving the military affairs of the colony, and 
rendered General Braddock distinguished service in pro- 
viding material for his expedition against Fort Du Quesne. 

* He organized fire companies in Philadelphia, the first on the Continent, and he 
devised means for paving the streets and lighting the city with gas. All military dis- 
cipline in the Province had become entirely neglected, but Franklin saw the utility 
of a thorough knowledge of tactics, and he applied himself to the task of instruc- 
tion. He projected the " American Philosophical Society," the " Pennsylvania 
Hospital," and the "Pennsylvania University." In 1742, he published a treatise 
on the improvement of chimneys, and invented the celebrated stove which bear* 
his name. This invention he gave to the public. 

t He had previously held the office of Justice of the Peace, and an Alderman of 
the city. 

X His attention was powerfully drawn to the subject of electricity, in conse- 
quence of some experiments which had been exhibited by Europeans in Boston ; 
and he not only repeated them all with success, but he was led to such investiga- 
tions of the nature and effects of electricity, as to discover many astounding truths 
such as the identity of lightning and the electrical spark of a machine. 

§ This plan for a confederation of the several Colonies, contained all the essen- 
tial features of the present Constitution of the United States, and exhibited the 
powers of a great mind. But it had the singular fortune to be rejected, both by 
the home government and by the Colonies ; the former contending that it had to* 
much democracy in it, and the latter, that it had too much prerogative in it. 



BKNJAMTN FRVNKLJN. 101 

In 1757, Franklin was sent by the General Assembly of 
the Province, to London, as its counsel in a dispute with 
the governor ; and he so managed the case as to ob- 
tain a verdict for the Assembly. He remained a resident 
agent for the Colony, in England, for five years, and 
formed many valuable acquaintances while there. On his 
return, he was publicly thanked by the General Assem- 
bly, and the sum of twenty thousand dollars was presented 
to him as compensation for his important services. 

In 1764, he was again sent to England as agent for the 
Colony, upon business similar to that for which he was 
first sent, and he was there when the Stamp Act was 
passed, loudly and boldly protesting against it. His opin- 
ions had great weight there ; and, having been appointed 
agent for several of the Colonies, the eyes of statesmen at 
home and abroad were turned anxiously to him, as the 
storm of the Revolution rapidly gathered in dark and 
threatening clouds. He labored assiduously to effect con- 
ciliation, and he did much to arrest for a long time the 
blow that finally severed the Colonies from the mother 
country. Satisfied at length that war was inevitable, he 
returned home in 1775, and was at once elected a dele- 
gate to the General Congress. He was again elected in 
1776, and was one of the committee appointed to draft a 
Declaration of Independence, voted for its adoption, and 
signed it on the second of August. 

In September Franklin was appointed one of 

■ • T 1 TT • ° 1776 ' 

three commissioners to meet Lord Howe in con- 
ference on Staten Island, and hear his propositions for 
peace. The attempt at conciliation proved abortive, and 
hostilities commenced.* About this time a Convention was 

* Franklin had formed a personal acquaintance with Lord Howe, in England, 
At the conference in question, when his lordship expressed his kind feelings to- 
ward the Americans, and his regret that they would not share in the protection of 
British power, Doct. Franklin told him plainly that he need not give himself any 
trouble on their account as the Americans were fully able to take care of themselve* 



110 PENNSYLVANIA. 

called in Pennsylvania, for the purpose of organizing a State 
government, according to the recommendation of the Gen- 
eral Congress. Franklin was chosen its President, and his 
wisdom was manifested, in the Constitution which followed. 
He was appointed by Congress a Commissioner to the 
Court of France, to negotiate a treaty of alliance. Al- 
though then over seventy years of age, he accepted the 
appointment, and sailed, in October, 1776. He was re- 
ceived with distinguished honors, and strong expressions 
of sympathy in behalf of his country were made; yet the 
French ministry were so cautious, that it was not until af- 
a 0ct ter the news of the capture of Burgoyne a reached 
1 " 7 * them, and American affairs looked brighter, that 
they would enter into a formal negotiation. A treaty 
was finally concluded, and was signed by Franklin and 
the French Minister, in February, 1778. America was 
acknowledged independent, and the French government 
openly espoused her cause. Franklin was invested by 
Congress with almost unlimited discretionary powers, and 
his duties were very arduous and complex ; yet he dis- 
charged them with a fidelity and skill which excited the 
admiration of Europe. Great Britain at length yielded, 
and consented to negotiate a treaty of peace upon the 
basis of American independence ; and on the third day 
of September, 1783, Doctor Franklin had the pleasure of 
signing a definitive treaty to that effect.* 

Franklin now asked leave of Congress to return home 
to his family ,t but he was detained there until the arrival 

* It was on this occasion, that Doctor Franklin again put on a suit of clothe 
which ten years before, on the occasion of his being insulted before the English 
Privy Council, he declared he would never wear again until he had "signed 
England's degradation and America's independence." 

t Doctor Franklin had two children, a son and daughter. The former was a 
royal governor of New Jersey before the Revolution, and adhering to the govern- 
ment, he went to England, where he died. His daughter married Mr. Bache, oi 
Philadelphia, whose descendants are among the first families of that city at ta« 
present time. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Ill 

of Mr. Jefferson, his successor, in 1785. His return tc 
America was received with every demonstration of joy 
and respect, not only from the most distinguished individ- 
uals, but from nearly every public body in the country. 
Notwithstanding his great age (eighty years) the public 
claimed his services, and he was appointed President of 
Pennsylvania, which office he held three years. In 
1787, he was in the Convention which framed the pres- 
ent Constitution of the United States, and this was the 
last public duty he performed. The gout and stone, with 
which he had been afflicted many years, terminated his 
life on the seventeenth day of April, 1790, in the eighty- 
fourth year of his age. A vast concourse of people fol- 
lowed his body to the grave, and the whole country, nay 
the whole civilized world, mourned his loss.* 

* Congress directed a universal mourning throughout the United States for 
thirty days. In France, and indeed throughout Europe, the news of his death 
was received with profound grief. In the National Assembly of France, the elo- 
quent Mirabeau announced his death, and in a brief but brilliant eulogium, he 
used these words : " Franklin is dead I" [a profound silence reigned throughout 
the hall.] " The genius which gave freedom to America, and scattered torrents 
of light upon Europe, is returned to the bosom of the Divinity ! The sage, 
whom two worlds claim ; the man disputed by the history of the sciences, and 
the history of empires, holds, most undoubtedly, an elevated rank among the hu- 
man species. Political cabinets have too long notified the death of those who were 
never great but in their funeral orations ; the etiquette of courts have but toolong 
sanctioned hypocritical grief. Nations ought only to mourn for their benefactors ; 
the representatives of freemen ought never to recommend any other than the he- 
roes of humanity to their homage. ***** 

" Antiquity would have elevated altars to that mortal, who, for the advantage of 
the human race, embracing both heaven and earth in his vast and extensive mind, 
knew how to subdue thunder and tyranny Enlightened and free Europe at least 
owes its rememorance and its regrets, to one of the greatest men who has evei 
•erved the cause of philosophy and of liberty. ' The Deputies adopted a resold 
tton to wear mourning for three days. 



qjtyvri ^ywcnfb 




crrv 

ohn Morton descended from ancestors 
of Swedish birth, who emigrated to Amer- 
ica in the early part of the seventeenth 
century, and settled upon the Delaware 
River, not far below Philadelphia. He 
was the only child of his father, who died 
before his son was born, which event occurred in the year 
1724. His mother, who was quite young, afterward mar- 
ried an English gentleman, who became greatly attached 
to his infant charge. Being highly educated, and a good 
practical surveyor, he instructed young Morton in mathe- 
matics, as well as in all the common branches of a good 
education. His mind was of unusual strength, and at an 
early age it exhibited traits of sound maturity. 

Mr. Morton first accepted official station, in 1764, when 
he was appointed justice of the peace under the Provin- 
cial government of Pennsylvania. He was soon after- 
ward chosen a member of the General Assembly of that 
Province, and for a number of years was Speaker of the 
House. So highly were his public services appreciated, 
that the people were loath to dispense with them. 

He was a delegate to the " Stamp Act Congress," in 
1765; and in 1766, he was made high sheriff of the 
county in which he resided. He warmly espoused the 
cause of the patriots, and on that account, when, after the 
Lexington tragedy, military corps were formed in Penn- 
sylvania, he was offered the command of cne. This he 
declined, on account of other engagements, for he then 
held the office of presiding Judge of the Quarter Ses- 
sions and Common Pleas, and about the same time he 

112 



JOHN MORTON. 113 

was elevated to the bench of the Supreme Court of the 
Province. 

In 1774, the Assembly of Pennsylvania appointed Mr. 
Morton a delegate to the General Congress. He was re- 
elected for 1775 in December of the same year, and he 
was also elected in 1776 to the same office. His elec- 
tion lid not take place until some days after the Declara- 
tion of Independence was adopted, but he had the privi- 
lege of signing it in August.* He was very active while 
in Congress, and the committee duties which he performd, 
were many and arduous. Among other committees on 
which he served, he formed one of that which reported 
the Articles of Confederation for the States, which were 
adopted, and remained the organic law of the nation 
until the adoption of the present Constitution in 1787. 

Mr. Morton did not live to see the blessings of peace 
and independence descend upon his country. He died in 
April, 1777, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, leaving a 
widow and a large family of children. His death was a 
great public calamity, for men of his genius and patriot- 
ism were much needed at that time. His career pre- 
sented another instance of the triumph of virtue and sound 
principles, in rising from obscurity to exalted station. , 

* By virtue of his previous election, Mr. Morton was in his seat on the memora- 
ble fourth of July, 1776. The delegation from Pennsylvania then present were 
equally divided in opinion upon the subject of independence, and Mr. Morton was 
called upon officially to give a casting vote for that State. This was a solemn respon- 
sibility thrown upon him — it was for him to decide whether there should be a 
unanimous vote of the Colonies for independence — whether Pennsylvania should 
form one of the American Union. But he firmly met the responsibility, and voted 
yes.; and from that moment the United Colonies were declared Independent 
States. We have said the delegation from Pennsylvania were divided. It was 
thus : Morris and Dickenson were absent, and Franklin and Wilson were in fa- 
vor of, and Willing and Humphrey were opposed to, the Declaration ; and Morton 
gave the casting vote. 




]\^^^S>y^^l 



w 






wM 




eorge Clymer wiis born in Philadel- 
phia, in the year 1739. His father was 
from Bristol, England, and died when 
George was only seven years old. His 
wife died before him and George was 
left an orphan. William Coleman, his 
mother's brother, a wealthy and highly-esteemed citizen 
of Philadelphia, took George into his family, and in his 
education, and all other things, he treated him as a &on. 
Having completed a thorough English education, he was 

114 




GEORGE CLYMER. 115 

taken into the counting-room of his uncle, and prepared 
for commercial life. 

Mr. Clymer was not partial to a mere antile business, for 
he deemed it a pathway beset with many snares for the 
feet of pure morality, as sudden gains and losses were 
apt to affect the character of the most stable. For him- 
self he preferred literature and science, and his mind was 
much occupied with these subjects. 

At the age of twenty-seven years he married a Miss 
Meredith, and entered into mercantile business with his 
father-in-law, and his son, under the firm of Meredith and 
Sons. His uncle died about the same time, and left the 
principal part of his large fortune to Mr. Clymer. Still 
he continued in business with his father-in-law, until his 
death; and with his brother-in-law afterward, until 1782. 

Even before his marriage, when none but old commer- 
cial grievances were complained of by the Colonies, Mr. 
Clymer expressed decided republican principles ; and 
when the Stamp Act aroused the resistance of the Ameri- 
can people, he was among the most ardent defenders of 
the republican cause. He was a zealous actor in all the 
public meetings in Philadelphia; and when, in 1774, 
military organizations took place preparatory to a final 
resort to arms, which seemed inevitable, Mr. Clymer ac- 
cepted the command of a volunteer corps belonging to 
General Cadwallader's brigade. 

When the oppressions which Boston experienced at 
the hands of British power, after the " Tea Riot,"* 

* When the British ministry became convinced that the Americans would 
never submit to be taxed without their consent, they repealed several acta which 
were most obnoxious to the Colonies, but retained a duty upon tea. This, it was 
well understood in Parliament, was intended merely as a salvo for British honor, 
for the government had declared its right to tax the Colonies ; and it was urged, 
that if it should, because of the opposition of the Americans, relinquish that right, 
it would be a virtual abdication of government in the Colonies. On the other 
hand, although the duty was but little more than nominal, the Americans saw in 
vo/ved in it a principle they could not sacrifice, and therefore they manfully n 



116 PENNSYLVANIA. 

aroused the strong sympathy of the people of the com 
mercial cities, Mr. Clymer was placed at the head of a 
large and responsible Committee of Vigilance in Phila- 
delphia, to act as circumstances should require. He was 
also placed upon the first Council of Safety that was or- 
ganized in Philadelphia ; and early in 1775, he was ap- 
pointed by Congress one of the Continental treasurers. 

In 1776, after two of the Pennsylvania delegates in the 
General Congress declined voting for the Declaration of 
Independence, and withdrew from their seats, Mr. Cly- 
mer and Dr. Rush were appointed to succeed them, and 
they both joyfully affixed their signatures to that instru- 
ment. Mr. Clymer was soon afterward appointed one of 
a committee to visit the northern army at Ticonderoga ; 
and when the British approached Philadelphia at the close 
of 1776, and Congress retired to Baltimore, he was put 
upon a committee with Robert Morris and others, to re- 
main as a Committee of Vigilance in that city. He was 
again elected to Congress in 1779, and was one of a com- 
mittee sent by that body to Washington's head-quarters at 
Valley Forge, to inquire into the alleged abuses of the 
commissary department. 

Mr. Clymer was peculiarly obnoxious to the British,* 
an evidence of his patriotic zeal and unwavering attach- 
ment to the Republican cause. While the enemy were 
in possession of Philadelphia in the winter of 1778, they 
surrounded a house which they thought was Mr. Clymer's, 

eisted the exercise of the assumed right. The duty being so light, the East 
Indian Company believing the Colonists would not complain, at once acJL large 
cargoes of tea to America. In Boston the people would not allow it to be landed, 
and ordered the vessel out of port. Refusing to comply, a party (some disguised 
as Indians) went on board on the night of the sixteenth of December, 1773, and 
broke open, and cast into the harbor, more than three hundred chests of tea. 

* After the defeat of the Americans at the Brandywine, and the British were 
marching triumphantly toward Philadelphia, Mr. Clymer moved his family into 
the country for safety. But their retreat was discovered, and the British soldiers 
sacked the house, destroyed the furniture, and wasted every sort of property 
which they could find. 



GEC/RGE CLYMER. 117 

with the intention of demolishing it, but they discovered 
it to belong to a relative of his of the same name, and 
they spared the edifice. 

In 1778, Mr. Clymer was sent by Congress to Pitts- 
btiigh to endeavor by negotiation to quiet the savages, 
wlu, influenced by British emissaries, were committing 
dreadful ravages on the frontier. In this he was success- % 
ful, and for his arduous services he received the thanks of 
Congress. In the autumn of 1780 he was elected to Con- 
gress for the third time, and he continued an attentive and 
active member until 1782. During that year, he joined 
with Robert Morris and others in the establishment of a 
bank in Philadelphia, designed for the public good. Mr. 
Clymer was a considerable subscriber, and was made one 
of its first directors.* 

In 1782, Mr. Clymer and Edward Rutledge were ap 
pointed by Congress to visit the Southern States, and urge 
the necessity of a prompt contribution of their assessed 
quota of funds for the public Treasury. The individual 
States were slow to respond to the calls of Congress, and 
this tardiness very much embarrassed the operations of 
government. On his return, Mr. Clymer moved his family 
to Princeton, for the purpose of having his children edu- 
cated there. Public interest soon called him back to Penn- 
sylvania, and he took a seat in its Legislature. It was while 
he was a member of that body, that the criminal code of 
that State was modified, and the penitentiary system in- 
troduced. It is conceded that the credit of maturing this 
wiser system of punishment, is chiefly due to Mr. Cly- 
mer, and for this alone he is entitled to the veneration due 
to a public benefactor. 

Mr. Clymer* was a member of the Convention that 

* Two years before, he, with Mr. Morris and others, established a private bank, 
which was designed for the public good, and was of great utility. The bank e» 
tablished in 1782 was of a national character. 



118 PENNSYLVANIA. 

framed the Federal Constitution, and was elected one of 
the first members of Congress, convened under that instru- 
ment. He declined a re-election, and was appointed, by 
President Washington, supervisor of the revenue for the 
State of Pennsylvania. This was an office in which great 
firmness and decision of character were requisite, in con 
^sequence of the spirit of resistance to the collection of 
revenue which was then abroad. In fact, open rebellion 
at length appeared, and the movement known as the 
" Whiskey Insurrection"* in Pennsylvania, at one time 
threatened serious consequences to the whole framework 
of our government. But Mr. Clymer was unawed, and 
amid many personal dangers, he passed forward in the 
performance of his duty. At length, when things became 
quiet, he resigned. In 1796, he was appointed, with 
Colonels Hawkins and Pickens, to negotiate a treaty with 
the Cherokee and Creek tribes of Indians, in Georgia. 
This they effected to the mutual satisfaction of the con- 
tending parties. This mission closed the public life of 
Mr. Clymer, and the remainder of his days were spent in 
acts of private usefulness,! and a personal preparation for 
another world. He died on the twenty-fourth day of 
January, 1813, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. His 
long life was an active and useful one, and not a single 
moral stain marked its manifested purity. 

* A portion of the people of the interior of Pennsylvania, violently opposed the 
excise law, it being a region where much whiskey was distilled, and hence the 
tax or duty amounted to a considerable resource. This excise law was adopted 
by Congress in 1790. In 1792, so insurrectionary had the people become in rela- 
tion to the duty on distilled liquor, that Congress passed an act authorizing the 
President cf the United States to call out the militia of the State, if necessary to 
enforce the laws. He withheld his power for nearly two years, but at length the 
" Whiskey Insurrection" assumed such a formidable aspect, that an army of fifteen 
thousand men were placed in the field. The rebellion ceased without a conflict 

t Mr. Clymer was one of the projectors of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in 
Philadelphia, and was its first President, which office he held until his decease 
He was also one of the founders of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society ; ai*. 
his name appears conspicuous in many of the benevolent movements of his day 




ames Smith was born in Ireland, and was 
quite a small child when brought by 
his father to this country. The date 
of his birth is not recorded, and Mr. 
Smith himself could never be induced to 
tell it. It is supposed to be somewhere 
about 1720. His father, who had a numerous family 
of children, settled upon the Susquehanna river, in 
Pennsylvania, and died there in 1761. James was 
his second son, and, discovering a strong intellect at 

119 




120 PENNSYLVANIA. 

• 

an early age, his father determined to give him a libe- 
ral education. For this purpose he placed him under 
the charge of Reverend Doctor Allison, provost of the 
college of Philadelphia. He there acquired a knowledge 
of Latin and Greek, and what proved more useful to 
him, practical surveying. 

After completing his tuition, he began the study of law 
in Lancaster, and when admitted to the bar, he removed 
westward, and practised both law and surveying. The 
place wh«re he located was very sparsely populated, and 
indeed was almost a wilderness. The nourishing town of 
Shippensburg has since sprung up there. After a short 
continuance in his wilderness home, Mr. Smith moved to 
the flourishing village of York, where he found no busi- 
ness competition for many years. He married Miss 
Eleanor. Amor of Newcastle, Delaware, and became a 
permanent resident of York, where he stood at the head 
of the bar until the opening of the Revolution. 

Mr. Smith early perceived the gathering storm which 
British oppressions were elaborating here ; and when men 
began to speak out fearlessly, he was among the first in 
Pennsylvania to take sides with the patriots of Massachu- 
setts and Virginia. He heartily seconded the proposition 
for non-importation agreements, and for a General Con- 
gress. He was a delegate from the county of York to the 
Pennsylvania convention (which was styled the " Commit- 
tee of Pennsylvania"*), whose duty it was to ascertain the 
sentiments of the people, and publish an address. Mr. 
Smith was a member of the sub-committee chosen to 
f repare the address, which was in the form of instruction! 
to the representatives of the people in the General As- 
sembly of the state. He was earnest in endeavor- 

* These committees formed in other Colonies, and were distinct from the 
Colonial Assemblies authorized by the Royal Governors. In 1775 they superseded 
those Assemblies, and assumed general legislative powers, which they exercised 
as Provincial Congresses, until the Confederation of the States took place. 



JAMES SMITH. 121 

mg to arouse the people to positive resistance, and as 
early as 1774, he was in favor of cutting the bond that 
held the colonies to the British throne.* 

When Congress passed a resolution, recommending 
the several colonies to " adopt such governments as in the 
opinion of the representatives of the people, might 
best conduce to the happiness and safety of their con- 
stituents," the Pennsylvania Assembly was slow to act 
accordingly. In fact its instructions to its delegates in 
Congress were not favorable to independence, and it was 
not until the people of that state spoke out their senti- 
ments in a general convention, that Pennsylvania was 
truly represented there. The seats of her delegates, who 
refused to vote for the Declaration of Independence, 
and withdrew from Congress, were filled with bold men, 
and one of these was James Smith, who, with George 
Clymer and Benjamin Rush, took his seat some days 
after that glorious instrument was adopted. He was 
there in time, however, to place his signature to the 
parchment on the second day of August ensuing. 

Mr. Smith, was a member of the convention of Penn- 
sylvania convened to form a constitution for the state, af- 
ter the Declaration of Independence. There he was very 
active, and it was not until October, 1776, that he was 
a regular attendant in the General Congress. He waa 
soon after appointed one of a most important committee 
whose business was to aid Washington in opposing the 

* He was convinced that reconciliation was out of the question, and that war 
was inevitable. He accordingly raised and drilled a volunteer corps at York, (the 
first ever raised in the State,) which was the commencement of a general organi- 
zation of the militia in that Province. Other companies were formed, and when 
a sufficient number were organized to form a regiment, Mr. Smith was elected 
Colonel. His age, however, precluded his entering ^oon active service, and he 
held the office as an honorary boon. According to the ^stimony of Mr. Penn be- 
fore Parliament, the body of military " Assoeiators" thus founded 2>y Mr. Smith 
amounted in number, before the Declaration of Independence, to twenty thou* 
, whose services wore pledged to the State. 



122 PENNSYLVANIA. 

progress of General Howe's army * They were intrusted 
with almost unlimited discretionary powers, and the scope 
of their operations included the whole business of advi 
sing and superintending the military movements. 

In the spring of 1777, Mr. Smith declined a re-election 
to Congress, and resumed his professional business at 
York ; but the unfortunate defeats of the Americans at 
the Brandywine and at Germantown, and the capture of 
Philadelphia by the British, called for his valuable pre- 
sence in the national council, and he obeyed the voice of 
duty. Congress adjourned to Lancaster when Howe's 
army took Philadelphia, and afterward it adjourned to 
York, the place of Mr. Smith's residence. When the 
battle of Monmouth, in 1778, made the hope of Ame- 
rican triumph beam brightly, Mr. Smith retired again 
from Congress, and resumed his professional business 
In 1779 he was called to a seat in the Legislature of 
Pennsylvania, where he served one term, and then with- 
drew. This closed his public career, and he lived in 
the enjoyment of domestic happiness until his death, 
which occurred on the eleventh day of July, 1806. He 
is supposed to have been nearly ninety years of age. 

Mr. Smith was quite an eccentric man, and possessed 
a vein of humor, coupled with sharp wit, which made 
him a great favorite in the social circle in which he 
moved. He was always lively in his conversation and 
manners except when religious subjects were the topics, 
when he was very grave and never suffered any in his 
presence to sneer at or speak with levity of Christianity. 
Although not a professor of religion, he was a posses- 
sor of many of its sublimer virtues, and practised its ho- 
liest precepts. 

* His associates were James Wilson, Samuel Chew, George Clyiner, and Rich 
«rd Stockton 




eorge Taylor was born in Ireland, m 
the year 1716, and came to this coun 
try when he was about twenty years of 
age. He was the son of a clergyman 
but whether Roman Catholic or Protes 
tant, is not known. He was well edu 
cated, but was poor on his arrival, and performed menia-, 
service for a livelihood. He afterward became a clerk in 
the iron establishment of Mr. Savage, at Durham, in Penn- 

123 




1V4 PENNSYLVANIA 

Bylvania ; and sometime after the death ->f his employer 
he married that gentleman's widow, by which he came 
into possession of considerable property and a thriving 
business. 

After pursuing the business for some time, at Durham, 
and acquiring a handsome fortune, Mr. Taylor purchased 
an estate on the Lehigh, in Northumberland county, and 
erected iron works there. His wealth, education, and 
business talents, and his urbanity of manner, soon gained 
for him the esteem and confidence of the people, and he 
was elected by them a member of the Colonial Assembly 
in 1764. In that body he soon became a distinguished 
actor, and was placed upon its most important committees 

It was during Mr. Taylor's membership in the Colonia 
Assembly of Pennsylvania, that that body received the 
circular letter from Massachusetts, proposing a Genera 
Colonial Congress at New York, in 1765.* The Assem 
bly accepted the invitation, and Mr. Taylor was one oj 
the committee to whom was assigned the duty of drawing 

* The passage of the Stamp Act, in March, 1765, excited a spirit of resistance ia 
the Colonies, that threatened open rebellion. The Massachusetts Assembly sent 
forth a circular letter to the other Colonies, proposing a General Congress of d ?le- 
gates from them, to be held in the city of New York in October following, for he 
purpose of consulting upon the public good. At the opening of the Conventi >a, 
the following delegates appeared and took their seats. From Massachusetts, James 
Otis, Oliver Partridge, Timothy Ruggles ; Rhode Island, Metcalf Bowler, Henry 
Ward ; Connecticut, Eliphalet Dyer, David Rowland, William 3. Johnson ; New 
York, Robert R. Livingston, John Cruger, Philip Livingston, William Bayard, 
Leonard Lispenard ; Pennsylvania, John Dickenson, John Morton, George Bryan ; 
Maryland, William Murdock, Edward Tilghman, Thomas Ringgold ; New Jersey, 
Robert Ogden, Hendrick Fisher, Joseph Borden ; Delaware, Thomas McKean, 
Caesar Rodney; South Carolina, Thomas Lynch, Christopher Gadsden, John 
Rutledge. Timothy Ruggles, of Massachusetts, (who was a royalist during the 
Revolution), was, by bailor, elected President. They adopted a " Declaration of 
Rights," a " Petition to the King," and a " Memorial to Parliament." The "Decla 
ration of Rights" was penned by John Cruger, delegate from New York. He was 
at that time speaker of the Provincial Assembly, and Mayer of the city of New 
York. The " Petition to the King," was written by Robert R. Livingston, also a 
member from New York, who afterward had the high honor of administering the 
oath of office to Washington when he was inaugurated the first President of tho 
United States. 



GEORGE TAYLOR. 125 

up instructions for the delegates from that Province. 
Those instructions were supposed to be from his pen, and 
evinced much wisdom and sound judgment. 

Mr. Taylor was a member of the Provincial Assembly- 
five consecutive years, when, finding his private interests 
suffering in consequence of his absence, he declined a re- 
election, and for sometime withdrew from public life. He 
was elected to the Provincial Congress in 1775, and was 
one of the committee appointed to draw up instructions 
for the delegates to the General Congress, which convened 
in May of that year. These instructions, v. hich were not 
sanctioned by the Assembly until Novem >er, contained 
a clause strictly prohibiting the delegates fr. m concurring 
in any proposition for political independence, a reconcilia- 
tion being still hoped for. But public feeling <rery mate- 
rially changed on this point during the spring of 1776 
and in June that prohibition was removed, and the dele« 
gates were left to act according to their own discretion. 
Still, a portion of the delegates remained firm in thmr op- 
position to the measure, and Mr. Taylor was one of those 
appointed to fill their places. He was therefore not pres- 
ent in Congress when the Declaration of Independence 
was adopted, but was there in time to sign it on the 
second day of August. 

Mr. Taylor remained in Congress one year, and then 
withdrew from public life and settled in Easton. He di ^d 
on the twenty -third day of February, 1781 / ayre^ «ij f 
five years. 





his distinguished patriot was bom in 
Scotland in 1742, and emigrated to this 
S country in 1766. He had received his 
\$ki education under some of the best teach- 
*" ers in Edinburgh, and he brought with 
him such strong recommendations to 
eminent citizens of Philadelphia, that he soon obtained a 
situation as an assistant teacher in the Philadelphia col- 
lege, then under the supervision of the Reverend Doctor 
Peters. In the course of a few months he commenced 
the study of law in the office of the eminent John Dicken- 

126 



JAMES WILSON. 127 

son,* and after two years' close application, he established 
himself in business, first in Reading and afterward in 
Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He finally fixed his permanent 
residence in Philadelphia. He rapidly rose to eminence 
in his profession, and became distinguished as an ardent 
supporter of the republican cause whenever an opportu- 
nity presented itself. 

Having adopted America as his home, Mr. Wilson 
espoused her cause with all the ardor of a native bora 
i.itizen. This gave him great popularity, and in 1774, he 
w;is elected a member of the Provincial Assembly of 
Pennsylvania. In May, 1775, he was chosen a delegate 
lo the General Congress, together with Benjamin Frank- 
lin and Thomas Willing. He was again elected for the 
session of 1776, and warmly supported the motion of 
Richard Henry Lee for absolute independence. He vo- 
ted fi>r and signed the Declaration of Disenthralment 
and remained an active member of Congress until 1777, 
when he and Mr. Clymer were not re-elected in conse- 
quence of the operations of a strong party spirit which at 
that time existed in the Pennsylvania Assembly. 

Mr. Wilson, however, continued actively engaged for 
the public good, even in private life, nor did he allow that 
jealousy of his rising fame, which had interposed a bar- 
rier to his re-election, in the least to repress his zeal for his 
adopted country's welfare. He had been an indefatigable 
coadjutor with Mr. Smith in the organization of volunteer 
military corps, and was elected colonel of a regiment in 
1774. The energy he there displayed was now again exer- 
ted in raising recruits for the Continental army, and through 

* Mr. Dickenson was at that time one of the most eminent lawyers in America. 
He was a powerful writer, and his " Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer" were very 
Instrumental in bringing on that crisis in public affairs in the Colonies which 
brougbt about the Revolution. He was always opposed to the proposition for in- 
dependence, and would have voted against it if he had been in his seat on the fourth 
of July, 1776. His earnest desire was to obtain justice for America, without 41* 
menubei-ing the British empire. 



128 PENNSYLVANIA. 

his influence, the Pennsylvania line was much strength- 
ened. 

In 1777, difficulties having arisen with the Indians 
within the bounds of the state, Mr. Wilson was sent 
as a commissioner to treat with them, and he was suc- 
cessful in his undertaking. Soon after the arrival of Mr 
Gerard, the French minister,* Mr. Wilson formed an ac 
quaintance with him, which ripened into friendship, and 
Mr. Gerard was so struck with the versatility of his ta 
lents, that in 1780 he appointed him the Advocate Gene- 
ral of the French nation in the United States, an office 
which required a thorough knowledge of international 
and commercial laws. The appointment was confirmed 
by the French King in 1781.f 

Toward the close of 1782, Mr. Wilson was again elec- 
ted a delegate to the General Congress, and took his 
seat in January, 1783. During that year, the executive 
council of Pennsylvania, appointed him an agent and 
counsellor in the controversy of that state with Connecti- 
cut, respecting the Wyoming domain. In this important 
service he was very successful, and the matter was 
brought to an amicable settlement. He was again elected 
to Congress toward the close of 1785, and took his seat in 
March following. He was an active member of the con- 
vention that framed the Federal Constitution in 1787, and 
was chairman of the committee that reported the first 
draft. He was also a member of the state convention 
that ratified it, and was chosen to deliver an oration on 

* As soon as France, by the treaty of February, 1778, openly deelared in favor 
of the United States, she promptly commenced the fulfilment of her agreement, by 
fitting out a fleet of twelve sail of the line, and sent them to America, under Count 
D'Estaing. She also appointed a minister (Mr. Gerard) to Congress, and he came 
with the French fleet, and was landed at Sandy Hook, in July of that year. 

t Mr. Gerard stipulated with Mr. Wilson, that an annual salary should be 
allotted him ; but after his devotion to his duties for some time, he received a no. 
tiflcatiou from the French King, that it was not his pleasure to sanction thatstipu» 
lation. Mr. Wilson at once resigned the office, justly complaining of bad treatment 



JAMES WILSON. 129 

the occasion of a celebration of the event in Philadelphia. 
He was also a member of the convention that framed a 
new constitution for Pennsylvania in 1788. In the ar- 
rangement of the judiciary under the Federal Constitution, 
President Washington appointed Mr. Wilson one of the 
judges of the Supreme Court of the United States. 

He was appointed the first Professor of Law in the Col- 
lege of Philadelphia, in 1790, and when, in 1792, that insti- 
tution and the University of Pennsylvania were united 
he was appointed to the same professorship there, which 
office, as well as that of Judge of the Supreme Court, 
he held until his death. 

In 1791, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives 
chose him, by a unanimous vote, to revise and properly 
digest the laws of the state. He at once entered upon the 
duties assigned him, and had made a considerable progress 
in the arduous work, when his labors were arrested by 
the Senate refusing to concur in the object for which the 
appointment had been made. His task was never re- 
sumed. 

In his official capacity as judge of the United States 
Supreme Circuit Court, he frequently made long jour- 
neys into other states. It was while on a judicial circuit 
in North Carolina, that his death occurred on the twenty- 
eighth day of August, 1798, at the house of his friend, 
Judge Iredell of Edenton. He was in the fifty -sixth 
year of his age. 

For many years, Mr. Wilson stood at the head of the 
Philadelphia bar, and so popular was he as an advocate, 
that nearly every important case that came before the 
higher tribunals of that State was defended by him. As 
a patriot none was firmer ; as a Christian none sincerer ; 
and as a husband, father, neighbor and friend, he was be- 
loved and esteemed m the highest degree. 
9 





forge Ross was born in New Castle v 
Delaware, in the year 1730. His father 
was a highly esteemed minister of the 
Episcopal Church in that town, and he 
educated his son with much care, hav- 
ing himself experienced the great advan- 
tage of a liberal education. He soon became very pro- 
ficient in Latin and Greek, and at the age of eighteen 
years entered, as a student, the law office of his brother 
then a respectable member of the Philadelphia bar. He 

130 



OEOROE ROSS. 131 

was admitted to practice at the age of twenty-one years, 
and fixed his residence in Lancaster, where he married a 
highly respectable young woman named Lawler. 

Mr. Ross first appeared in public life in 1768, when he 
was elected a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly for 
Lancaster. He was much respected in that body, and 
was re-elected several successive years. And when the en- 
actments of the British Cabinet for enslaving the Colo- 
nies were causing the public men of America to define 
their positions, Mr. Ross very readily took sides with the 
patriots, and heartily commended the proposed measure 
of calling a General Congress. He was chosen one of the 
seven delegates which represented Pennsylvania in that 
august Convention, and was present at the opening in 
September, 1774. And, strange as it may appear, Mr. 
Ross was directed by the Assembly of Pennsylvania, to 
draw up the instructions which were to govern himself and 
his colleagues in the Continental Congress. And so 
highly was he esteemed by his fellow-citizens, thatfduring 
the whole time that he was in Congress, from 1774 to 1777, 
he was regularly elected a member of the Assembly of 
Pennsylvania, as a representative for Lancaster. Nearly 
his whole time was consumed by attention to public du- 
ties in one or the other of these legislative councils, yet he 
freely gave it " without money and without price."* He 
was a warm supporter of the resolution of Mr. Lee, pro- 
posing independence, and joyfully signed the Declaration 
thereof, on the second of August, 1776. 
• The benevolent attributes of Mr, Ross's character, led 
him early to exercise an active sympathy for the remnants 
of the Indian tribes in his vicinity, and through his influ- 
ence their condition was ameliorated, and justice meted 

* As a testimony of their appreciation of his services in the General Congress, 
it was voted that the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds sterling should be sent 
to him as a free gift, from the treasury of Lancaster county. But his stern patriot 
•«m made him courteously refuse tiw proffered donation. 



132 PENNSYLVANIA. 

out to them, and theii just wrath was frequently appeased 
by his exertions, when it threatened to burst like a con- 
suming fire upon the frontier settlements.* Both his own 
State Legislature and the National Council, made him a 
mediator in difficulties which arose with the Indians, and 
he acted the noble part of! a pacificator, and a true phi- 
lanthropist. Nor did his humane sentiments flow out to- 
ward the oppressed red man alone, but wherever weak- 
ness was trodden down by strength, he fearlessly lent his 
aid. Thus, when Tories or adherents to the Crown, were 
persecuted and imprisoned, and it was esteemed next to 
treason to defend their cause, Mr. Ross, Mr. Wilson, and 
a few others, were ever ready to plead in their behalf.f 

In April, 1799, Mr. Ross was appointed a Judge of 
the Court of Admiralty for Pennsylvania, in which office 
he would undoubtedly have greatly distinguished himself, 
had not death suddenly closed his active and highly use- 
mi life, in July, 1780, in the fiftieth year of his age. 

* It cannot be denied that the treatment of the Indian tribes at the hands of the 
whites, in a large majority of cases, has been such that it is not to be wondered at 
that the untutored mind of the savage should, in its excited workings, elaborate 
•cheme8 of revenge, a sentiment growing out of injuries received, and a jealous 
foreboding of future expulsion from their hunting grounds and the graves of their 
fathers. Although unchristian and savage, yet the Indian possesses the sentiment 
of patriotism, and reveres the land of his fathers ; and among no people upon 
earth is veneration for the resting place of the dead more strongly exhibited than 
by him. No wonder, then, that the vision of expatriation, perhaps annihilation, 
which the future revealed, should have made him arise in his might, and by the 
tomahawk and torch attempt to stay the flood of white settlement, whose surges 
beat so strongly against the feeble barriers of his already contracted domain. Had 
the law of kindness and the principle of justice always prevailed, as they did under 
the mild and prosperous rule of William Penn, the Indian would have been the 
white man's friend, and those dark pictures of fire and blood would never have 
appeared among the delineations of our eventful history. 

t The tories of the Revolution were far more despised (and justly so) by the 
patriots, than the mercenary troops of Great Britain. They not only lifted their 
hands against their own brethren, but in many cases their treachery and cruelty 
exceeded the worst acts of the British soldiery. During the winter, when the 
American army was suffering every thing but death at Valley Forge, the interior of 
Pennsylvania swarmed with tories ; and when Washington, by order of Congress, 
proceeded to take, by force, the grain and other food which the tory farmers re- 
fused to sell to the army, they, in some instances, burnt their produce, rather thaa 
Lave it feed the starving Americans I 








iESAR Rodney was born at Dover, in the 
Province of Delaware, in the year 1730. 
He was descended from English ancestry. 
His grandfather came from England soon 
after William Penn commenced the settle- 
ment of Pennsylvania.* After remaining a short time in 
Philadelphia, and forming acquaintances with some of its 
most esteemed citizens, he went into the county of Kent, on 
the Delaware, and settled down upon a plantation. He 
was an active man, and becoming very popular, he held 
many posts of honor and distinction in that Province. He 
had several sons, but lost them all except his youngest, 
Caesar, the father of the subject of this memoir. Unambi- 
tious of public honors, and preferring the quiet of domestic 
life to the bustle and turmoil of the political field, he de- 
clined all offices that were tendered to him ; and in the 
midst of agricultural pursuits he enriched his mind by 
study, and prepared his children for the duties of life. 



* In 168 L, William Penn, a member of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, and 
son of the English Admiral of that name, obtained a grant of Charles H. of all the 
lands embraced in the present State of Pennsylvania. That region had been colo- 
nized by Swedes, nearly forty years before, and Penn issued a proclamation, 
guarantying to permanent settlers undisputed right to the lands they occupied. 
The great aim oi that good man was to establish an empire in the new world, upoa 
the sacred principles of peace and brotherly love, where men of all nations, creeds, 
and hues, might live together as one harmonious family. Had the policy of Wil 
toam Penn, in conciliating the Indians by uniform kindness of ti eatment, been 
followed in the other colonies, much bloodshed might have been prevented, and 
the settlements would sooner have become permanent and prosperous. During 
the entire time that William Penn was proprietor of Pennsylvania, not a single 
dispute occurred with the natives. 

133 



134 DELAWARE. 

He married the daughter of an esteemed clergyman, and, 
Caesar being the first born, received their special attention 
in the matter of education of mind and heart. 

On the death of his father, Mr. Rodney as the eldest 
male heir inherited the paternal estate, and with it, tne 
distinguished consideration* with which the family had 
ever been regarded. There are no records to show at 
what precise time he appeared in public life, but as he 
seems to have been a leader in the recorded proceedings 
of the Legislature of that Province in 1762, it is quite pro- 
bable that he had done service there some years earlier. 

When the Stamp Act excited the jealousy and alarm 
of the colonies, Mr. Rodney boldly proclaimed his senti- 
ments in opposition to it and several antecedent acts of 
injustice which the British government had inflicted upon 
her colonies in America. He acted as well as thought 
and spoke, and when the " Stamp Act Congress" met in 
New York, in 1765, Mr. Rodney, together with Mr. 
M'Kean and Mr. Rollock, was chosen delegate thereto 
by a unanimous vote. 

Mr. Rodney was a member of the Provincial Assem- 
bly in 1769, and was chosen its Speaker. He continued 
a member, and the Speaker of that body until 1774, and 
as chairman of the corresponding committee, he was ar- 
duous in plying his pen in the interchange of political sen- 
timents with his compatriots in other colonies. He was 
elected a delegate to the General Congress, by a conven- 
tion of the people of the three counties of Delaware, in Au- 
guss, 1774, and took his seat at the opening of Congress, 
on the fifth of September following. His colleagues were 
Thomas M'Kean and George Read, and three more de- 
voted and active men than these could hardly be found. 
He was one of a committee who drew up a Declaration 
of Rights and set forth, in an address, the causes for com- 
plaint, under which the colonists groaned. 



C ESAR RODNEY. 136 

Mr. Rodney was elected a delegate for 1775 and while 
attending to his duties in Congress, he was appointed 
Brigadier General of his province. This appointment 
imposed heavy additional duties upon him, yet he did not 
shrink from their performance, and he was alternately in 
Congress and at home, attending at the latter place to the 
duties of his military station. He was there during the 
closing debates upon the proposition for a Declaration of 
Independence in 1776, but was sent for by his colleague, 
Mr. M'Kean, so as to secure the vote of Delaware for 
that important measure. He arrived in time to give his 
voice for independence, and enjoyed the high privilege of 
signing the revered parchment. On his return to his con- 
stituents they approved, by acclamation, of his acts in the 
National Council. 

In the autumn of 1776, the people of Delaware called 
a convention to frame a State Constitution, and to elect 
delegates to the next Congress. Through the machinations 
of tory members of that convention, whose principles to a 
great extent leavened it, Mr. Rodney and Mr. M'Kean 
were not re-elected. But this only tended to increase his 
ardor, and his pen was constantly busy in correspondence. 
He was also enabled by this defeat, to attend to his pri- 
vate affairs which had suffered much by his absence. 

After the battle of Princeton at the beginning of 1777, in 
which Colonel Haslet, who belonged to General Rodney's 
brigade, was killed, the latter immediately started for the 
army, and meeting Lord Stirling at Philadelphia, received 
.orders to remain at Princeton, and make it a sort of recruit- 
ing station. General Rodney remained there for about 
two months, when his services became no longer necessary 
and he returned to his family. 

Soon after his return home, he was appointed a judge 
of the Supreme Court. He, however, declined the honor 
preferring the more active life of his military station. He 



13b DELAWARE. 

was soon afterward called to marshal his brigade to a scene 
of insurrectionary disorder in Delaware, which he speedily 
quelled ; and he also joined the main army of Washington 
when the British urder Lord Howe landed at the mouth of 
the Elk river, and directed their march toward Philadel- 
phia.* Not long after this event, toryism became so much in 
the minority, that it had but little power to oppose the pa- 
triots and General Rodney was again elected to Congress. 
But the political agitation of his State demanded his pre- 
sence there, and he remained. He was chosen President 
of the State, and performed the arduous duties of his 
office with great faithfulness for about four years. Dela- 
ware was peculiarly exposed to the predatory incursions 
of the enemy, and it required great sagacity and arduous 
toil for those who managed her affairs, to prevent a state 
of anarchy. 

While thus laboring for his country's good, Mr. Rodney 
suffered greatly from the effects of a disease (cancer in the 
cheek) that had been upon him from his youth, and it 
made dreadful inroads upon his health. Feeling conscious 
that he was wasting away, he retired from public life and 
calmly awaited the summons for departure to the spirit- 
land. He died early in the year 1783, when in the fifty- 
third year of his age. 

* General Howe, finding it impracticable to reach Philadw.phia by land, em- 
barked his troops on board the British fleet, then lying off Sandy Hook, and pre* 
ceeded to the Chesapeake Bay. His troops were landed at the mouth of Elk 
River on the twenty-fifth of August, 1777, and that was the first intimation Washing- 
ton had of his real destination. The British immediately commenced their march 
toward Philadelphia, and the Americans at the same time marched from that city 
to meet them. They met upon the river Brandywine, where the battle of that 
name, so disastrous to the Americans, occurred. It was there that La Fayetto 
greatly distinguished himself, and was severely wounded. 




f^O&fa^ 



eorge Read was born in Cecil county, 
in the Province of Maryland, in the 
year 1734, and was the eldest of six 
brothers. He was of Irish descent, 
His grandfather was a wealthy resi- 
dent of Dublin, his native city, and his 
father emigrated to America from Ireland, about 1726. 
George was placed in a school of considerable repute at 
Chester, in Pennsylvania, where he made much progress 
in Latin and Greek, his father having previously instructed 

137 




138 DELAWARE. 

him in all the common branches of a good English educa- 
tion. He was afterward placed under the care of the 
Reverend Doctor Allison, who at various times had charge 
of several pupils, who were afterward members of the 
Continental Congress, or held other high official stations. 

At the age of seventeen years young Read commenced 
the study of the law in the office of John Morland, a dis- 
tinguished barrister of Philadelphia. He was veiy studi- 
ous, and during his pupilage in the profession, he pos- 
sessed the entire confidence of his instructor, who also be- 
came his warm friend. He was admitted to the bar in 
1753, at the early age of nineteen years, and then com- 
menced a career of honor and usefulness to himself and 
others.* In 1754, he settled in the county of New Castle. 
Delaware, and commenced the practice of his profession. 
Although competitors of eminence were all around him, 
Mr. Read soon rose to their level, and at the age of 
twenty-nine, he succeeded John Ross,t as Attorney Gen- 
eral for the " lower counties on the Delaware" of Kent, 
Sussex and New Castle. This office he held until elected 
a delegate to the Continental Congress, in 1774. 

In 1765 Mr. Read was elected a member of the Gen- 
eral Assembly of Delaware, and was re-elected to the 
office eleven consecutive years. He was one of a com- 
mittee of that body, who, in view of the odious features 
of the Stamp Act, proposed an address to the King in be- 
half of the people of the Province. Mr. Read clearly 
perceived however, that remonstrances from isolated Colo- 

* We cannot pass unnoticed an act of noble generosity which marked his initial 
•tep in his profession. As soon as he was admitted to the bar a practising attor- 
ney, he voluntarily released, by deed, all the legal right which he had in the es- 
tate of his father, in behalf of the rest of the children ; alleging that he had received 
his share in full in the expenses of his education, and that he conscientiously be- 
lieved that it would be a fraud upon the others, if he should claim an equal shar* 
with thr-n in the final division. 

t He was married in 1763 to the .accomplished and pious daughter of the Rev^ 
erend George Ross, the pastor of a Church in New Castle, and a relative of the 
Attorney General 



GEORGE READ. 139 

nies would have but little effect, and he was one of those 
patriots of prudence and sound judgment, who looked to 
a general Convention of representatives of the several 
Colonies, as the surest means through which the sense of 
iustice in the home government could be reached. Ho 
also heartily approved of the system of non-importation 
agreements, and by assiduous labor, he succeeded in en- 
gaging the people of Delaware in the measure. 

When the sufferings of the people of Boston, from the 
effects of the Act of Parliament known as the " Boston 
Port Bill,"* excited the warmest sympathy throughout 
the Colonies, and subscriptions for their relief were every- 
where made — Mr. Read, with Nicholas Van Dyke, was 
made the channel of transmission of the donations of the 
people of Delaware, and he was exceedingly active him- 
self in procuring pecuniary and other aid. 

In 1774, Mr. Read, with Caesar Rodney and Thomas 
M'Kean for colleagues, was appointed by the Assembly 
of Delaware, a delegate to the General Congress that met 
in September of that year, at Philadelphia. He was a 
delegate also in 1775 and 1776, and during the early part 
of the latter year, his labors were divided between his du- 
ties in Congress, and the affairs of his own State.! He 

* On the thirty-first of March, 1774, the British Parliament passed an act for the 
punishment of the people of Boston for the destruction of tea in the harbor, on 
the sixteenth of December previous. It provided for the virtual and actual clos- 
ing of the port. All importations and exportations were forbidden, and vessels 
were prohibited from entering or leaving that port. The Customs, Courts of Jus. 
tice, and all government offices, were removed to Salem ; and on the arrival of 
Governor Gage, a few days before the first of June (the time the act was to take 
effect), he called a meeting of the General Assembly of Massachusetts at Sa- 
»em. Thus all business was suddenly crushed in Boston, and the inhabitants were 
reduced to great misery, overawed as they were by large bodies of armed troops. 
The people of the Colonies deeply sympathized with them, and lent them gener- 
ous aid. And, strange as it may appear, the city of London subscribed one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand dollars for the poor of Boston ! 

t When, in 1777, soon after the battle of Brandywine, Governor M'Kinley, the 
President of the State, was taken prisoner by the British, Mr. Read, who was Vice 
President, was obliged to perform his duties. He discharged them with fidelity 
«nd at the same time he was active in t'ue Committee of Safety. On one or twa 



140 DELAWARE. 

was an earnest advocate for the Declaration of Independ 
ence, and considered it a high privilege when he placed 
his name upon the parchment. After the Declaration, 
the people of Delaware formed a State Constitution, and 
Mr. Read was President of the Convention that framed 
the instrument. 

His arduous duties at length affected his health, and in 
August, 1779, he resigned his seat in the Assembly of 
Delaware. He was re-elected, however, the next year. 
In 1782, he was appointed one of the Judges of the Court 
of Appeals in Admiralty cases, and he retained the office 
until that tribunal was abolished. In 1785, Mr. Read 
was appointed by Congress one of the Justices of a special 
Court to adjudicate in a case of dispute about territory 
between Massachusetts and New York. In 1786, he was 
a member of the Convention that met at Annapolis, in 
Maryland, to consider and repair the defects in the Articles 
of Confederation. This Convention was the egg of the 
one, which, in the following year, framed the Federal 
Constitution. In 1788, he was elected a member of the 
Senate of Delaware, under the new Constitution, and he 
occupied a seat there until 1793, when he was elevated 
to the bench, as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of 
his State. He occupied that station until the autumn of 
1798, when death, by sudden illness, closed his useful life,, 
in the sixty-fourth year of his age. 

occasions he marched with the militia, musket in hand, to repel invasion. On his 
return to Delaware at the time Governor M'Kinley was made prisoner, Mr. Read 
and his whole family narrowly escaped the same fate. His family were with him 
In Philadelphia, and he was obliged to pass down the Jersey side of the Delaware, 
and cross at a place where the river is five miles wide. He procured a boat and 
proceeded within sight of the ships of the enemy. Before reaching the shore the 
boat grounded, and, being perceived from one of the British vessels, a skiff was 
sent in pursuit. Mr. Read had time to efface every mark from his baggage that 
might identify him, and so completely did he deceive the inmates of the skiff, by 
representing himself as a country gentleman just returning from an excursion witt 
his family, that his pursuers kindly assisted in landing the ladies and the children 
and in getting his boat ashore. 



3^2^ ^ ^—-ZZ -2l i] 





^f^M 



lH omas M'Kean w«» born in New Lon- 
Idon, Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 
ithe year 1734. His father was a na- 
tive of Ireland, and Thomas was the 
second child of his parents. After re- 
I ceiving the usual elementary instruc- 
tion, he was placed under the care of 
rt^^ndDoctor Allison, and was a pupil under him 
wfcfc George Read. At the conclusion of his studies, he en 







142 DELAWARE. 

tered the office of David Finney, of New Castle, as a lav* 
student ; and so soon did his talents become manifest, that 
in the course of a few months after entering upon the study 
of the law, he was employed as an assistant clerk of the 
Court of Common Pleas. In fact, he performed ail the 
d ities of the principal. He was admitted to the bar be- 
fore he was twer^y-one years of age, and permitted to 
practise in the three counties of Delaware. 

Mr. M'Kenn soon rose to eminence in his profession, 
and attracted the attention of most of the leading men of 
the day. Without any solicitation, cu premonition, Ld 
was appointed, by the Attorney General of the Province, 
his deputy" to prosecute all claims for the Crown 
in the county of Sussex. He was then only 
twenty-two years old. The next year (1767) he was ad- 
mitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 
and about the same time the House of Assembly of Dela- 
ware, elected him their clerk. He declined a second 
election in 1758. In 1762, he was appointed, with Caesar 
Rodney, to revise and print the laws of the Province en- 
acted during the ten preceding years. He was elected 
that year a representative for New Castle, to the General 
Assembly. This promotion to office was a distinguished 
mark of the confidence of the people of that district, for 
he had expressed a desire not to be elected, and besides 
that he had been a resident of Philadelphia six years. 
Another singular manifestation of confidence in his integ- 
rity and judgment was exhibited by the people of the 
district, when, at his urgent request, he was allowed to 
relinquish his seat in the Legislature. They appointed a 
committee to wait on him and request him to nominate 
seven proper men in the district for their representatives. 
This delicate office he at first declined, but on the request 
being urgently repeated, and assurances offered that no 
offence should be given, he acceded to their desires, apd 
those he named were elected by large majorities. 



THOMAS m'kEAIV. 143 

Mr. M'Kean was a delegate to the " Stamp Act Con- 
gress" in 1765, and was the associate upon a committee 
with James Otis and Thomas Lynch, in preparing an ad- 
dress to the British House of Commons. For their ser- 
vices in that Congress, he and his colleague, Mr. Rodney, 
received the unanimous thanks of the Assembly of Dela- 
ware. 

In 1765, he was appointed by the governor sole no- 
tary public for the " lower counties on the Delaware," 
and m rapid succession he received the offices of Justice 
• f the Peace, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and 
Quarter Sessions, and of the Orphan Court. He, with his 
colleagues, defied the Stamp Act, by using unstamped pa- 
per in their legal proceedings. In 1766, the governor of 
New Jersey, upon the recommendation of the Supreme 
Court of that State, admitted him to practice in any of its 
Courts. In 1769 the Assembly of Delaware employed 
him to proceed to New York and obtain copies of histori- 
cal records, valuable to the former Province. In 1771, 
he was appointed Collector of the Customs for the port of 
New Castle, and the following year he was elected Speaker 
of the Assembly of Delaware. 

Mr. M'Kean zealously opposed the encroachments of 
British power upon American rights, and he heartily con- 
curred in the sentiments of the Massachusetts Circular, 
recoramei ing a General Congress. He was elected a 
delegate thereto, was present at the opening on the fifth 
of September, 1774, and soon became distinguished as one 
of the most active men in that august body. He continued 
a member of the Continental Congress from that time, 
until the ratification of the treaty of peace, in 1783. Im- 
pressed with the conviction that reconciliation with Great 
Britain was out of the question, he zealously supported the 
measure which led to ? final Declaration of Independ 



144 DEL ARE. 

ence ; and when that Declaration was submitted to Con- 
gress for action, he .voted for and signed it * 

In September, 1776, (although then at the head of a reg- 
iment under Washington in New Jersey,) he waschosen 
a member of a Convention in Delaware to frame a State 
Constitution.f That instrument was the production of 
his pen, and was adopted by a unanimous vote. 

Mr. M'Kean was claimed as a citizen by both Pennsyl- 
vania and Delaware,| and he faithfully served them both, 
for iu 1777, he was Chief Justice of the former, and 
President of the latter. In addition to these offices hr 
was Speaker of the Delaware Assembly, and delegate to 
the Continental Congress. In 1781, on the resignation of 
Mr. Huntington, of Connecticut, of the office of President 
of Congress, Mr. M'Kean was elected to succeed him. 
But he resigned the office in November following, and 
received the thanks of Congress for his able services 
while presiding over that body.§ 

* Being called away to aid General Washington in New Jersey, with a regi- 
ment of " Philadelphia Associators," (of which he was colonel,) immediately after 
the rote on the Declaration of Independence was taken, Mr. M'Kean did not sign 
the instrument until sometime in the month of October following. 

t On receiving notice of his appointment, he set oft' for Dover, and on his arrival 
was requested by the Convention to draft a Constitution. He acceded to their re- 
quest, and before the next morning the charter was completed. 

{ We have several tiroes had occasion to mention the three counties which 
constituted the Province of Delaware, and the political connection which seemed to 
exist between it and Pennsylvania. The following was the relative position of the 
former to the latter. Delaware was originally included ir the grant made to Wil- 
liam Penn, and was a part of Pennsylvania. But, in 1691, the " three Lower coun- 
ties on the Delaware," dissatisfied with some of the proceedings of the Executive 
Council, withdrew from the Union, with the reluctant consent of the proprietor, 
who appointed a deputy governor over them. The next year, the Provincial gov- 
ernment was taken from William Penn, by a royal commission to Governor 
Fletcher, of New York, who re-united Delaware to Pennsylvania, under the name 
of the "Territory of the three Lower Counties on the Delaware." It remained 
•ubordinate to Pennsylvania until 1776, yet having a separate Legislature of its own. 

§ During that year he was obliged to move his family five times, to avoid the 
marauding enemy The next year (1788) party spirit running very high in Penn- 
sylvania, he found a faction arrayed against lim, who made an abortive i 
to impeach him. It was like " the riper bitin; a file." 



THOMAS M'KEAN. 146 

From the period of the conclusion of the war, Judge 
M'Kean was actively engaged in Pennsylvania and Dela- 
ware in various services which the arrangement of dis- 
cordant political elements into a symmetrical form of gov- 
ernment required ; and his labors in aid of the formation 
and adoption of the Federal Constitution, were various 
and arduous.* He continued in the chair of Chief Justice 
of Pennsylvania until 1799, (a period of twenty years,) 
when he was elected Governor of that State. To this 
otHce he was elected three successive terms, and held it 
nine years. At the session of 1807-8, of the Pennsylvania 
Legislature, his opponents presented articles of impeach- 
ment for maladministration, which closed with a resolution 
that " Thomas M'Kean, the Governor of the Common- 
wealth, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors." 
The charges were brought fully before the House, but by 
the summary measure of indefinitely postponing their con- 
sideration, they were never acted upon. 

The last public act of Governor M'Kean, was to preside 
over the deliberations of the people of Philadelphia, when, 
during the war with Great Britain in 1812, that city was 
threatened with an attack from the enemy. He then 
withdrew into private life, where he remained until his 
death, which occurred on the twenty-fourth day of June, 
1817, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. 

* When the war of the Revolution was terminated, and the army disbanded, 
Congress, which had been powerful through its military arm, was rendered quite 
Impotent, for the authority before concentrated in the National Legislature, re- 
turned to the individual States whence it emanated. Congress was burdened 
with a foreign debt of eight millions of dollars, and a domestic debt of thirty mil- 
lions, and yet, according to the Articles of Confederation, it possessed no power 
to liquidate debts incurred during the war ; it only possessed the privilege of 
recommending to the several States the payment thereof. The people lost nearly 
all regard for Congress, general indifference prevailed, and a disposition to refuse 
to pay any taxes whatever began to be cherished. General anarchy and confu- 
sion seemed to be the tendency of all things, and the leading men of the Revolution 
felt gloomy forebodings for the future. It was clearly seen that the serious defects 
of the Articles of Confederationweretherootof the growing evil, and these convic- 
tions led to those measures which finally wrought out the Federal Constitution. 

10 




amuel Chase was bom on the seven* 

teenth day of April, 1741, in Somerset 
county, Maryland. His father was a 
clergyman of the protestant episcopal 
church, and possessing an excellent edu- 
| cation himself, he imparted such instruc- 
tion to his son in the study of the classics, 
and in the common branches of an En- 
glish education, as well fitted him for entering upon pro- 
fessional life. He commenced the study of law at the 
age ^f eighteen years, under Messrs. Hammond and Hall 

146 




SAMUEL CHASE. 147 

of Annapolis, who stood at the head of their profession 
in that section of the province. At the age of twenty 
he was admitted to practice before the mayor's court; and 
at twenty-two he became a member of the bar, and was al- 
lowed to practise in the chancery and other colonial courts. 
He located at Annapolis, where he soon became distin- 
guished as an advocate, and one of the most successful 
lawyers in the province. 

At the early age of twenty years, Mr. Chase was cho- 
sen a member of the Provincial Assembly, and there his 
independence of feeling and action in matters of principle 
greatly offended those time-serving legislators who fawned 
at the feet of the royal governor. There he first gave 
evidence of that stamina of character which he afterward 
so strongly manifested when called upon to act amid the 
momentous scenes of the Revolution. 

The Stamp Act aroused the energies of his soul to do 
battle for his country's right, and he was among the first 
in Maryland who lifted up voice and hand against the 
oppressor.* He became obnoxious to the authorities of 
Annapolis, and they attempted, by degrading epithets, to 
crush his eagle spirit while yet a fledgling. But their 
persecution extended his notoriety, and he soon became 
popular with the great mass of the people. 

Mr. Chase was one of the five delegates to the first 
Continental Congress, in 1774, appointed by a convention 
of the people of Maryland. He was also appointed by 
the same meeting, one of the "Committee of Correspon- 
dence" for that colony. t These appointments made him 

* He was one of a band of young patriots, who, in imitation of those of Massa- 
chusetts,, 6tyled themselves " Sons of Liberty." They opposed the operation of 
the Stamp Act in r* tj form, and evea went so far as to assault the Stamp Of- 
fices, and destroy tLs Stamps. 

* t These committees of correspondence constituted a powerful agent in the great 
work of the Revolution. Their conception was simultaneous in Massachusetts 
and Virginia, and both States claim the boDor of priority. At first these corn* 
mittees were confined to the larger cities, out very speedily every village And 



148 MARYLAND. 

obnoxious to the adherents to royalty, yet their good opin- 
ion was the least thing he coveted. In the General Con- 
gress he was bold and energetic, and even at that early 
day, he expressed his sentiments freely in favor of absolute 
independence. This feeling, however, was not general 
in the colonies, and the people were desirous of reconci- 
liation by righteous means, rather than independence. 

Mr. Chase was again elected to Congiess in 1775, and 
with his usual zeal, he was active in promoting every 
measure for strengthening the military force of the coun- 
try, then concentrated in the vicinity of Boston. He was 
also a delegate in 1776, and in the meanwhile he had 
used his growing influence and popularity to the utter- 
most in endeavoring to have the Maryland convention 
remove its restrictive instructions by which its delegates 
were prohibited from voting in favor of independence. 
This restriction was a galling yoke for him to bear, and 
he was very restiff under it- 
Early in the spring of 1776, he was appointed one of a 
committee with Dr. Franklin and Charles Carroll, to go 
on a mission to Canada, the chief object of which was to 
effect a concurrence, in that province, with the movements 
in the other English colonies. The mission, however, 
proved a failure, and on his return to his seat in Congress 
he found the subject of independence before that body. 
He was warmly in favor of the measure, and to his great 
joy and satisfaction, Maryland lifted her restrictions and 
left her representatives free to vote as they liked. Mr. 
Chase of course gave his vote for the Declaration of In- 
dependence, and signed the instrument with a willing hand. 

hamlet had its auxiliary committees, and the high moral tone evinced by the 
Chiefs, ran through all the gradations, from the polished committees appointed by 
Colonial Assemblies, to the rustic, yet not the least patriotic ones of the interior 
towns ; and through these made an impression upon the whole American people. 
Thus the patriot heart of America, at this crisis, (1773.) beat as with one pulsation, 
and the public mind was fully prepared to act with promptness and decislo* 
when circumstances should call for action. — " 1775," page 105. 



SAMUEL CHASE. 145 

He continued a member of Congress until in 1778, and 
was almost constantly employed in the duties of most 
important committees. Some of these were of a delicate 
and trying nature, yet he never allowed his sensibility to 
control his judgment, or shake his firmness of purpose.* 
His private affairs demanding his attention, Mr. Chase 
withdrew from Congress toward the close of 1778, and 
he resumed the practice of his profession in A nna P 0US 
He was engaged but little in public affairs for several 
years, and it was not until 1788, about ten years after he 
retired from Congress, that he again appeared in the arena 
of the political world. He was then appointed Chief Justice 
of the criminal court for the newly organized judicial dis- 
trict of Baltimore.! He was that year chosen a member 
of the state convention of Maryland, called to consider the 
ratification of the Federal Constitution, and about the 
same time he received and accepted the appointment of 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the state. In 
1796, President Washington nominated him a judge of 
of the Supreme Court of the United States, which nomi- 
nation was confirmed by the Senate. He held the office 
about fifteen years, and no man ever stood higher for 
honesty of purpose and integrity of motives, than Judge 

*• He was chairman of a committee appointed by Congress to act in relation to 
those Americans who gave " aid and comfort to the enemy ;" and it was his pain- 
ful duty to recommend the arrest and imprisonment of various persons oi 
this class, among whom were several wealthy Quakers of Philadelphia. An in- 
stance of his fearlessness in the performance of his duty, may be properly men- 
tioned here. During the summer of 1776, Reverend Doctor Zubly was a delegate 
in Congress from Georgia. By some means Mr. Chase discovered that he was in 
secret correspondence with the royal governor of Georgia. He immediately rose 
in his place and denounced Doctor Zubly as a traitor, before all the members oi 
the House. Zubly fled, and was pursued, but without success. 

t Mr. Chase had moved from Annapolis to Baltimore, on the urgent solicitation 
of Colonel Howard, one of the largest property holders in the vicinity of that city. 
He offered to Mr. Chase one full square for city building lots, if he would make 
Baltimore his residence. The offer was accepted, the property was conveyed to 
him, and now, being within the city, J f ery valuable. It is in the possession of th 
descendants of Judge Chase. 



]50 MARYLAND. 

Chase. Notwithstanding the rancor of such party feeling 
as dared to charge President Washington with appropri- 
ating the public money to his own private use, did all in 
its power to pluck the ermine from his shoulders,* yet his 
purity beamed the blighter, as the clouds grew darker, 
and he lived to hear the last whisper of calumny flit by 
like a bat in thv> morning twilight. His useful life termi- 
nated on the nineteenth day of June, 1811, when he was 
in the seventieth year of his age. 

Judge Chase was a man of great benevolence of feel- 
ingf and in all his walks, he exemplified the beauties of 
Christianity, of which he was a sincere professor. At 
the time of his death he was a communicant in St. Paul's 
church in Baltimore, the parish of which, when he was a 
child, his father had pastoral charge. 

* His political and personal opponents procured his impeachment in 1804, for 
malconduct on the bench. He was tried and honorably acquitted, to the shame 
and confusion of his enemies. 

t We cannot forbear relating an instance in which this characteristic was dis- 
played. Being on a visit to Baltimore, about the close of the Revolution, curiosity 
led him to a debating society, where he was struck by the eloquence of a young 
man, a druggist's clerk. He ascertained his name, sought an interview, and ad- 
vised him to study law. The youth stated frankly that his poverty was an insu- 
perable impediment in the way. Mr. Chase at once offered him a seat at his table 
and free access to his extensive library. The young man gratefully accepted the 
kind offer, went th«>ugh a course of legal studies, and was admitted to the bar, 
after passing an examination with distinguished ability. That young man wo 
William Pinkney, afterward Attorney General of the United States, and minis- 
ter for the same at the Court of Great Britain. 



,i[ " 3 ^©^<^^^i 




. any of those bold patriots who pledged 
life, fortune, and honor, in support of 
\ the independence of the United States 
of America, left behind them but few 
written memorials of the scenes in 
i which they took a conspicuous part, 
. ' and hence the biographers who first en- 
gaged in the task of delineating the characters and acts 
of those men, were obliged to find their materials in scat- 
tered fragments among public records, or from the lips of 
surviving relations or compatriots. Such was the case o* 
Thomas Stone, the subject of this brief sketch, whose un 

151 




152 MARYLAND. 

assuming manners and attachment to domestic life kept 
him in apparent obscurity except when called forth by 
the commands of duty. 

Thomas Stone was bora at the Pointoin Manor, in 
the Province of Maryland, in the year 1743. After re- 
ceiving a good English education, and some knowledge 
of the classics, he entered upon the study of the law, and 
at the age of twenty-one years he commenced its practice. 
Where he began business in his profession, is not certainly 
known, but it is supposed to have been in Annapolis. 

Although quite unambitious of personal fame, he never- 
theless, from the impulses of a patriotic heart, espoused 
the cause of the patriots and took an active part in the 
movements preliminary to the calling of the first Gene- 
ral Congress in 1774. He was elected one of the first 
five delegates thereto from that state, and after actively 
performing his duties throughout that first short session,* 
he again retired to private life. But his talents and pa- 
triotism had become too conspicuous for his fellow citizens, 
to allow him to remain inactive, and toward the latter 
part of 1775, he was again elected to the General Con- 
gress. As we have before observed, the people of Mary- 
land, although warmly opposed to the oppressive mea- 
sures of the British government, and determined in main- 
taining their just rights, yet a large proportion of them 
were too much attached to the mother-country, to harbor 
a thought of political independence. They therefore in- 
structed their delegates not to vote for such a proposition, 
and thus Mr. Stone, like his colleagues, who were all for 
independence, felt themselves fettered by an onerous 

* The first Continental Congress convened on the fourth day of September, 1774, 
and adjourned on the twenty-sixth day of October following — a session of only 
fifty-two days. Yet within that time they organized, or made provisions for those 
efficient movements which afterward took place in favor of freedom; and they 
sent forth to the world those able addresses and petitions, which so much excited 
the admiration of the statesman of Europe.— See note, Life of Philip Livingston* 



THOMAS STONE. 153 

bond. But the restriction was removed in June, 1776, 
and Mr. Stone, like Paca and others, voted for and signed 
the Declaration of Independence. And it is worthy of 
lecord that on the fourth of July, the very day on which 
the vote for Independence was given, Mr. Stone and his 
colleagues from Maryland, were re-elected by the unani- 
mous voice of the same convention, which, about six. 
weeks previously forbade them thus to act. 

The unobtrusive character of Mr. Stone kept him from 
becoming a very prominent member of Congress, yet his 
great good sense and untiring industry in the business of 
Important committees, rendered him a very useful one. 
He was one of the committee who framed the Articles 
of Confederation, which were finally adopted in Novem- 
ber, 177 i. He was again elected to Congress that year, 
and finally retired from it early in 1778, and entered the 
Legislature of his own State, where he earnestly advocated 
the adoption, by that body, of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion. The Maryland Legislature was too strongly im- 
bued with the ultra principles of State rights and absolute 
independence of action to receive with favor the propo- 
sition for a general political Union, with Congress for a 
Federal head, and it was not until 1781 that that State 
agreed to the confederation. 

Mr. Stone was again elected to Congress in 1783, and 
was present when General Washington resigned his mili- 
tary commission into the hands of that body. In 1784, 
he was appointed President of Congress, pro tempore ; 
and had not his native modesty supervened, he would 
doubtless have been regularly elected to that important 
station, then the highest office in the gift of the people. 
On the adjournment of Congress, he returned to his con- 
stituents and resumed the duties of his profession at Port 
Tobacco, the place of his residence, where he died, on the 
fifth of October, 1787, in the forty-fifth year of his age. 





illiam Paca was the descendant of 
a wealthy planter on the east shore of 
Maryland. He was born at Wye Hall, 
his paternal residence, in the year 
1740. His early moral and intellec- 
tual training was carefully attended to, and at a proper 
age he was placed in the Philadelphia College, whence 
he graduated, after a course of arduous and profitable 
study, with great credit to himself. He then commenced 
the study of the law with Mr. Hammond and Mr. Hall, 
of Annapolis, and Samuel Chase, his subsequent Congres- 
sional colleague, was a fellow student. 

154 



WILLIAM PACA. 155 

Mr. Paca, was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty, 
and the next year (1761), he was chosen a member of 
the Provincial Assembly. When the Stamp Act; in 1765, 
aroused the people of the colonies to their common dan- 
ger, Mr. Paca, with Mr. Chase and Mr. Carroll, warmly 
opposed its operation. And every succeeding measure 
of the British government, asserting its right to 'tax the 
Americans without their consent, was fearlessly con- 
demned by him, and thus he soon obtained the disappro- 
bation of the royal governor of the Province, and of those 
who adhered to the king and parliament. Like Mr 
Chase, he became very popular with the people by his 
patriotic conduct. 

He approved of the proposition for a General Con- 
gress in 1774, and he zealously promoted the meeting 
of the people in county conventions to express their sen- 
timents upon this point. He was appointed by a State 
Convention of Maryland, one of its five representatives in 
the Continental Congress, who were instructed to " agree 
to all measures which might be deemed necessary to ob- 
tain a redress of American grievances." Mr. Paca was 
re-elected in 1775, and continued a member of Congress 
until 177S, when he was appointed Chief Justice of the 
Supreme Court of his state. 

Like Mr. Chase, Mr. Paca was much embarrassed in 
Congress by the opposition of his constituents to indepen- 
dence, and their loyal adherence to the British Crown, as 
manifested in their instructions, frequently repeated in the 
early part of 1776.* Even as late as'the middle of May, 
they passed a resolution prohibiting their delegates from 
voting for independence ; but on the twenty-eighth of the 

* The people of Maryland, as represented in its State Convention, were alarmed 
lest their enthusiastic delegates should favor independence, and early in 1776 
they sent thtm instructions, in which they forbade their voting for such a meas- 
ure. They also passed a resolution " that Maryland would not be bound by a vote 
of a majority of Congress to declare independence." 



156 MARYLAND. 

same month a remarkable change in iheir opinions took 
place, and they ceased praying for the king and royal fam- 
ily ! This was a sort of half wheel, and toward the latter 
part of June the convention finished its evolutions by a 
" right about face" and withdrew their restrictions upon the 
votes of their delegates. Thus relieved, Mr. Paca and 
his associates continued their efforts to effect a decla- 
ration of independence with more zeal than ever, and re- 
corded their votes for the severance of the political bond 
of union w,ith Britain, on the fourth of July following. 
On the second of August, they fearlessly affixed their 
signatures to the parchment. 

About the beginning of 1778, Mr. Paca was appointed 
Chief Justice of the State of Maryland. He performed 
the duties with great ability and fidelity until 1782, when 
he was elected President or Governor of the State, undei 
the old Articles of Confederation. He held the executive 
office one year, and then retired to private life. 

In 1788, he was a member of the convention of Mary- 
land, called to act upon the ratification of the Federal 
Constitution. He was a firm advocate there for its rati- 
fication, which event took place in November. After 
the New Constitution had gone into effect, and offices 
under it were to be filled, President Washington nomina- 
ted him Judge for the district of Maryland.* 
This office he held until the period of his death, 
which was in the year 1799, when he was in the sixtieth 
year of his age. He was a pure and active patriot, a 
consistent Christian, and a valuable citizen, in every 
sense of the word. His death was mourned as a public 
calamity ; and his life, pure and spotless, active and use- 
ful, exhibited a bright exemplar for the imitation of the 
young men cf America. 




harles Carroll was descended from Irish 
ancestry. His grandfather, Daniel Carroll, 
was a native of Littemourna, in Ireland, an<? 
was a clerk in the office of Lord Powis, in 
the reign of James the Second. Under the 
patronage f Lord Baltimore, the principal proprietor of 
Maryland, Mr. Carroll emigrated to that Colony toward 
the close of the seventeenth century, and became the pos 
Bessor of a large plantation. His son Charles, the father 
Qf the subject of this memoir, was born in 1702, and lived 

1/57 




158 MARYLAND. 

to the age of eighty years, when he died and left his large 
estate to his eldest child, Charles, who was then twenty- 
five years old. 

Charles Carroll, the Revolutionary patriot, was born >in 
the twentieth of September, 1737. When he was only 
eight 5 ears of age, his father, who was a Roman Catholic, 
took him to France, and entered him as a student in the 
Jesuit College at St. Omer's. There he remained six 
years, and then went to another Jesuit seminary of learn- 
ing, at Rheims. After remaining there one year, he en- 
tered the College of Louis le Grand, whence he gradu- 
ated at the age of seventeen years, and then commenced 
the study of law at Bourges. He remained at Bourges 
one year, and then moved to Paris, where he continued 
until 17,07. He then went to London for the purpose of 
continuing his law studies there. He took apartments in 
the Inner Temple, where he remained until 1765, and 
"hen returned to Maryland, a most finished scholar and 
well-bred gentleman. 

The passage of the Stamp Act, about the time that he 
returned to America, arrested his attention and turned 
his mind more intently upon political affairs, of which he 
had not, for some time, been an indifferent spectator. He 
at once espoused the cause of the American patriots, and 
became associated with Chase, Paca, Stone, and others, 
in the various patriotic movements of the day. They be- 
came engaged in a newspaper war with the authorities of 
Maryland, and so powerfully did these patriots wield the 
pen, that their discomfited opponents soon beat a retreat 
behind the prerogatives and power of the royal governor. 
Mr. Carroll was particularly distinguished as a political 
writer, and in 1771-72, his name, as such, became familiar 
in the other Colonies. 

In 1772, he wrote a series of essays against the assumed 
right of the British government to tax the Colonies 




CHARLES CARROT,!,. loO 

out their consent. The Secretary of the Colony wrote in 
opposition to them, but Mr. Carroll triumphed most em- 
phatically. His essays were signed " The First Citizen," 
and the name of the author was entirely unknown. But 
so grateful were the people for the noble defence of their 
cause which these papers contained, that they instructed 
the members of the Legislative Assembly of Maryland, to 
return their hearty thanks to the unknown writer, through 
the public print* This was done by William Paca, and 
Matthew Hammmd. When it became known that Mr. 
Carroll was the writer, large numbers of people went to 
him and expressed their thanks personally, and he at once 
stood among the highest in popular confidence and favor. 

Mr. Can-oil early foresaw that a resort to arms in de- 
fence of Colonial rights, was inevitable, and this opinion 
he fearlessly expressed, j His decided character, his stern 
integrity, and his clear judgment, made him an umpire in 
many momentous cases,* and in every step he ascended 
higher and higher the scale of popular favor. He was 
appointed a member of the first Committee of Safety of 
Maryland ; and in 1775, he was elected a member of the 
Provincial Assembly. His known sentiments in favor of 
independence were doubtless the cause of his not being 
sooner sent to the General Congress, for, as we have al- 
ready seen, the Maryland Convention were opposed to 
that extreme measure. 

Anxious to witness the men and their proceedings in 

* As an instance of the entire confidence which the people had in his judgment, 
it is related, that when, in 1773-4, the " tea excitement" was at its height, a Mr. Stew- 
art of Annapolis, imported a quantity of the obnoxious article. The people were 
exasperated, and threatened to destroy the tea if landed. The Provincial Legisla- 
ture being then in session, appointed a committee of delegates to superintend the 
unlading of the cargo and see that no tea was landed. With this the people were 
not satisfied, and Mr. Stewart appealed to Mr. Carroll to interpose his influence. 
The latter told him it would be impossible to have any eti'ect upon the public 
mind in this matter, where such an important principle was concerned, and h» 
advised Mr. Stewart to allow the vessel and cargo to be burned. This advice M* 
Stewart followed, and by his consent the conflagration took pla«e. , 



160 MARYLAND. 

the Continental Congress, he visited Philadelphia for the 
purpose, early in 1776, and so favorably was he known 
there, that Congress placed him on a committee, with 
Doctor Franklin and Samuel Chase, to visit Canada on 
an important mission, the object of which we have men- 
tioned in the life of Mr. Chase. On his return, finding 
Mr. Lee's motion for independence before Congress, he 
hastened to Maryland to endeavor, if possible, to have 
the restrictive instructions which governed her delegates 
in the National Assembly, removed. In this he was suc- 
cessful, and when the prohibition was removed, he was 
elected a delegate to the Continental Congress. With 
instructions to vote as the judgment of the delegates should 
lictate, Mr. Carroll proceeded to Philadelphia, where 
he arrived on the eighth of July, too late to vote for the 
Declaration of Independence,* but in ample time to affix 
his signature to the parchment. \ 

Ten days after he took his seat in Congress, Mr. Car- 
roll was placed upon the Board of War, and continued a 
member of the same duiing his continuance in that body. 
He was at the same time a member of the Assembly of 
Maryland, and all the time which he could spare from his 
duties at Philadelphia, he spent in the active service of 
his own State. He was appointed, in 1776, a member of 
the Convention that framed a Constitution for Maryland as 
an independent State, and after its adoption, he was chosen 
a member of the State Senate. 

Mr. Carroll continued a member of Congress until 17S8, 
when he relinquished his seat, and devoted himself to the 
interests of his native State. He was again elected to the 

* The question naturally arises, Why did Mr. Carroll append to his signature 
tV.2 place of his residence. "Carrolltou"? It is said that when ae wrote his name, 
a delegate near him suggested, that as he had a cousin of the name of Charl«8 
Carroll, in Maryland, the latter might be taken for him, and he (the signer) efl 
cupe attainder, or any other punishment that might fall upon the heads of tha 
patriots. Mr. Carroll immediately seized the pen, and wrote "of Carrf 
the end of his name, exclaiming " They cannot mistake me now!" 




CHARLES CARROLL. 16 

Senate of Maryland, in 1781, and continued a member of 
that body until the adoption of the Federal Constitution 
In December, 1788, he was elected a member of the 
first United States Senate for Maryland. Ht remained 
there two years, and in 1791 he was again elected to the 
Senate of Maryland, where he continued until 1801, when, 
by the machinations of the strong party feeling of the day, 
he was defeated as a candidate for re-election. He then 
retired from public life, being sixty-four years of age ; 
and he spent the remainder of his days amid the quiet 
pleasures of domestic retirement, where his children's 
children, and even their children grew up around him like 
olive plants. He lived, honored and revered by the Re- 
public with whose existence he was identified, until 1832, 
and was the last survivor of the fifty -six signers of 'the 
Declaration of Independence. He died at Baltimore, on 
the fourteenth day of November, 1832, in the ninety- 
sixth year of his age. 

For a long term of years, Mr. Carroll was regarded by 
the people of this country with the greatest veneration, 
for, when Jefferson and Adams died, he was the last ves- 
tige that remained upon earth of that holy brotherhood, 
who stood sponsor at the baptism in blood of our infant 
Republic. The good and the great made pilgrimages to 
his dwelling, to behold, with their own eyes, the venerable 
political patriarch of America, and from the rich store- 
house of his intellect, he freely contributed to the defi- 
ciencies of others. " His mind was highly cultivated. He 
'was always a model of regularity of conduct, and sedate- 
ness of judgment. In natural sagacity, in refinement of 
taste and pleasures, in unaffected and habitual courtesy, 
in vigilant observation, vivacity of spirit, and true suscep 
tibility of domestic and social happiness, in the best forms, 
he had but few equals during the greater part of his long 
and bright existence.' 
11 






eorge Wythe was one of Virginia s 
most distinguished sons. He was borr 
in the year 1726, in Elizabeth county, 
and being the child of wealthy parents, 
he had every opportunity given him 
which the colony afforded for acquiring 
a good education. His father died when 
he was quite young, and his education and moral train- 
ing devolved upon his mother, a woman of superior abili 
ties. She was very proficient in the Latin lauguage, 
and she aided him much in the study of the classics. But 

162 



GEORGE WYTHE. 163 

before he was twenty-one years of age, death deprived him 
of her guidance and instruction ; and he was left at that 
early period of life with a large fortune and the entire con- 
trol of his own actions. His character not having become 
fixed, he launched out upon the dangerous sea of pleasure 
and dissipation, and for ten years of the morning of his life 
he laid aside study and sought only personal gratification 

When about thirty years of age, a sudden change was 
wrought in him, and he forsook the places of revelry and 
the companionship of the thoughtless and gay, and re- 
sumed the studies of his youth with all the ardor of one 
anxious to make up lost time. He mourned over his mis- 
spent days, even in his old age which was clustered round 
with honors, and he felt intensely the truth of the asser- 
tion that " time once lost, is lost forever." He at once 
commenced a course of study, preparatory to entering 
upon the profession of the law, and he became a stu- 
dent in the office of Mr. Jones, then one of the most dis- 
tinguished lawyers in the colony. He was admitted tc 
the bar in 1757, and rose rapidly to eminence, not |Only 
as an able advocate, but as a strictly conscientious one, 
for he would never knowingly engage in an unjust cause. 
Strict in all his business relations, and honorable to the 
last degree, he was honored with the full confidence of 
the people of Virginia, and when that state organized 
an Independent government pursuant to the recommen- 
dations of Congress, Mr. Wythe was appointed Chancel- 
lor of the State, then the highest judicial office in the gift 
of the people. That office he held during his life. 

For several years prior to the Revolution, Mr. Wythe 
was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, and 
when the Stamp Act aroused the patriotic resistance 
of the people, he stood shoulder to shoulder in that As- 
sembly with Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Peyton 
Randolph and others, who were distinguished as. leaden 



1G4 VIRGINIA. 

in legislation when the storm of the "War of Indepen- 
dence burst upon the land. 

In 1775, Mr. Wythe was elected a delegate So the Gene 
ral Congress, and was there in 1776, when his colleague! 
Mr. Lee submitted his bold resolution for Independence 
He steadfastly promoted every measure tending toward 
such a result, and he voted for and signed the Declaration 
of Independence. During the autumn of that year, he 
was associated with Thomas Jefferson and Edmund 
Pendleton in codifying the laws of Virginia, to make them 
conformable to the newly organized government. This 
duty was performed with singular ability. 

In 1777, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Bur- 
gesses of Virginia, and the same year he was elevated to 
the bench as one of the three judges of the high court of 
Chancery. When the new court of Chancery was orga- 
nized, he was appointed sole judge, and occupied that 
bench with great ability for twenty years. Always firm 
in his decisions, which were never made without serious 
investigation and analysis, he seldom gave dissatisfaction, 
even to the defeated party.* For a while he was profes- 
sor of law in the college of William and Mary, but when 
he removed to Richmond, he found it impracticable to 
attend to its duties, and he resigned the office. t 

In 1786, Mr. Wythe was chosen a delegate to the Na- 
tional Convention that framed the Federal Constitution. 
He was also a member of the Virginia convention called 
to consider its adoption, and was twice chosen a United 
States Senator under it. Notwithstanding the constant 

* He was called upon to make tbe first decision on the important question 
whether debts contracted by persons In the United States to men in Great Britain, 
were or were not recoverable by law. The general feeling in the public mind was 
with the negative side of the question, but Chancellor Wythe, after patiently in- 
vestigating the whole matter, fearlessly gave his opinion that such debts weri 
binding, and legally recoverable. 

t Chancellor Wythe had the honor of being the law instructor of two of th« 
Presidents; and one Chief Justice of the United States. 



GEORGE WYTHE. 165 

demand upon his time, which the duties of his official sta- 
tion made, he opened and taught a piivate school, free to 
those who chose to attend it. Among other pupils was a 
negro boy belonging to him, whom he taught Latin, and 
he was preparing to give him a thorough education, when 
both he and the boy died. This occurrence took place 
the eighth day of June, 1800, when Mr. Wythe was in 
the eighty-first year of his age. His death was sudden 
and was believed to have been caused by poison placed 
in his food by a near relative. That person was tried for 
the crime, but acquitted. The negro boy alluded to, par- 
took of the same food, and died a short time previous to 
his master. 

Mr. Wythe was a man of great perseverance and in- 
dustry* kind and benevolent to the utmost ;* was strict in 
his integrity, sincere in every word, faithful in every 
trust ; and his life presents a striking example of the force 
of good resolution triumphing over the seductions of plea- 
sure and vice, and the attainments which persevering and 
virtuous toil will bring to the practician of these necessa- 
ry ingredients for the establishment of an honorable repu- 
tation, and in the labors of a useful life. 

Mr. Wythe was twice married, but he left no offspring, 
an only child, by his first wife, having died in infancy. 

* During his lifetime he manumitted all of his adult slaves, and he provided for 
the freedom of the younger ones, who were his property at the time of his death. 
He also made provision in his will for the support of a man, woman, and shild» 
ua»o whum he had given freedom. 





/ 6*1 OLSLs^O 



ichard Henry Lee was a scion of the no- 
blest stock of Virginia gentlemen. Could 
ancestral dignity and renown add aught to 
the coronal that enwreathes the urn of his 
memory, it is fully entitled to it, for his re- 
lations for several generations were distin- 
guished for wealth, intellect and virtue. 
Richard Henry Lee was bora in the county of West- 
moreland, Virginia, on the twentieth day of January, 
1732, within a month of time, and within a few miles space 

166 




RICHARD HKNRY LEJB. 167 

of the great and good Washington. According to the 
fashion of the time in the " Old Dominion," his father sent 
him to England, at an early age to be educated. He was 
placed in a school at Wakefield, in Yorkshire, where he 
soon became marked as a thoughtful and industrious stu- 
dent. Ancient history, especially that part which treats 
of the republics of the old world, engaged his close atten- 
tion ; and he read with avidity, every scrap of history of 
that character, which fell in his way. Thus he was early 
indoctrinated with the ideas of republicanism, and before 
the season of adolescence had passed, he was warmly at- 
tached to those principles of civil liberty, which he after 
ward so manfully contended for. 

Young Lee returned to Virginia when nearly nineteen 
years of age, and there applied 'himself zealously to lite- 
rary pursuits. He was active in all the athletic exercises 
of the day ; and when about twenty years of age, his love 
of activity led him to the formation of a military corps, to 
the command of which, he was elected, and he first 
appeared in public life in 1755, when Braddock ar- 
rived from England; and summoned the colonial Gover- 
nor to meet him in council, previous to his starting on an 
expedition against the French and Indians upon the Ohio. 
Mr. Lee presented himself there, and tendered the servi- 
ces of himself and his volunteers, to the British General. 
The haughty Braddock proudly refused to accept the ser- 
vices of those plain volunteers, deeming the disciplined 
troops whom he brought with him, quite sufficient to 
drive the invading Frenchmen from the English domain.* 

* Braddock did indeed accept the services of Major Washington and a force oi 
Virginia militia, and had he listened to the advice of the young Virginia soldier, 
he might not only have avoided the disastrous defeat at the Great Meadows, but 
saved his own life. But when Washington, who was well acquainted with th« 
Indian mode of warfare, modestly offered his advice, the haughty Braddock said: 
4 What, an American buskin teach a British General how to fight !" The advic« 
tru unheeded, the day was lost, and Braddock was among the slain 



168 VIRGINIA. 

Lee, deeply mortified, and disgusted with the insolent bear 
ing of the British General returned home with his troops, 

In 1757 he was appointed, by the royal governor, a 
justice of the peace for the county in which he resided ; 
and such confideuce had the other magistrates in his fit- 
ness to preside at the court, that they petitioned the 
Governor so to date Mr. Lee's commission, that he might 
be legally appointed the President. About the same 
time he was elected a member of the House of Burgesses 
of Virginia, although then only twenty -five years old.* 
He was too diffident to engage in the debates, and it 
was not until some time afterward that he displayed those 
powers of oratory, which distinguished him in the Gene- 
ral Congress.t 

Mr. Lee fearlessly expressed his sentiments of reproba 
tion of the course pursued by the British Government 
toward the colonies, and he organized the first association 
in Virginia for opposing British oppression in that colony, 
when it came in the form of the " Stamp Act." He was 

* Such confidence had the people in the judgment and integrity of Mr. Lee, even 
though so young, that, it is said, numbers of people on their dying beds, committed 
to him the guardianship of their children. 

t The first time he ever took part in a debate, sufficiently to make a set speech, 
was in the House of Burgesses, when it was proposed to " lay so heavy a duty on 
the importation of slaves, as effectually to stop that disgraceful traffic." His feel- 
ings were strongly enlisted in favor of the measure, and the speech which he 
made on the occasion astonished the audience, and revealed those powers of ora- 
tory which before lay concealed. His fearlessness and independence of spirit, as 
well as his eloquence, were soon afterward manifested when he undertook the 
task of calling to account Mr. Robinson, the delinquent treasurer of the colony. 
A large number of the members of the House of Burgesses, who belonged to the 
old aristocracy of Virginia, were men, who, by extravagance and dissipation, had 
wasted their estates, and resorted to the ruinous practice of borrowing to keep up 
an expensive style of living not warranted by their reduced means. Nearly 
«]' of thent had borrowed money of Mr. Robinson, and he had even gone so far aa 
tc lend them treasury notes, already redeemed, which it was his duty to destroy, 
to secure the public against loss. He believed that their influence and number in 
the House of Burgesses, would screen him from punishment, supposing thera 
were none hardy enough to array himself against them. But Mr. Lee did array 
himself against all that corrupt power, and in the prosecution of the delinquent 
treasurer, oarried hi« point successfully. 



RICHARD HENRY LEE. 169 

the first man in Virginia, who stood publicly forth in op- 
position to the execution of that measure, and although by 
birth, education and social station, he ranked with the 
aristocracy, he was foremost in breaking down those dis- 
tinctions between the wealthy class and the " common 
people," as those self-constituted patricians called those 
who labored with their hands. Associated with him, was 
the powerful Patrick Henry, whose stormy eloquence 
strongly contrasted with the sweet-toned and persuasive 
rhetoric of Lee, but when they united their power the 
shock was always irresistible. 

Mr. Lee was one of the first " Committee of Corres- 
pondence"* appointed in Virginia in 1778, and he was 
greatly aided in the acquirement of knowledge respect- 
ing the secret movements and opinions of the British 
Parliament, by frequent letters from his brother, Arthur 
Lee, who was a distinguished literary character in Lon- 
don, and an associate with the leading men of the realm 
He furnished him with the earliest political intelligence, 
and it was generally so correct, that the Committees of 
Correspondence in other colonies always received with* 
out doubt, any information which came from the Vir- 
ginia Committee. Through this secret channel of cor- 
rect intelligence, Richard Henry Lee very early learned 
that nothing short of absolrte political independence 
would probably arrest the progress of British oppression 
and misrule, in America. Hence, while other men 

* To Mr Lee is doubtless due the credit of first suggesting the system of " Com- 
mittees of Correspondence," although Virginia and Massachusetts both claim the 
honor of publicly proposing the measure first. So far as that claim is concerned, 
the proposition was almost simultaneous in the Assembly of both Provinces. It 
was proposed in the Virginia Assembly, on the twelfth of March, 1773, by Dabney 
Carr, a brother-in-law of Mr. Jefferson, and a young man of brilliant talents. The 
plan, however, was fixed on in a caucus at the " Raleigh Tavern," and Rich- 
ard Henry Lee was one of the number. But in a letter to John Dickenson, of 
Pennsylvania, dated July twenty-fifth, 1768, Mr. Lee proposed the system of " Cor- 
responding Committees," as a powerful instrument in uniting the sentiments of 
the colonists on the great political questions constantly arising to view 



170 VIRGINIA. ^ 

thought timidly of independence, and regarded it merely 
as a possibility of the distant future, Mr. Lee looked 
upon it as a measure that must speedily be accomplished, 
and his mind and heart were prepared to propose it 
whenever expediency should favor the movement. 

He was very active in promoting the prevalence of 
non-importation agreements ;* and when he heard, through 
iiis brother, of the " Boston Port Bill," he drew up a 
series of condemnatory resolutions to present to the Vir- 
ginia Assembly .t The Governor heard of them, and dis- 
solved the Assembly before the resolutions could be in- 
troduced. Of course this act of royal power greatly ex- 
asperated the people, and instead of checking the ball 
that Mr. Lee had put in motion, it accelerated its speed. 
The controversy between the Governor and representa- 
tives here begun, continued, and the breach grew wider 
and wider, until at length, in August, 1774, a convention 
of delegates of the people assembled at Williamsburgh, 
in despite of the Governor's proclamation, and appointed 
Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, George Washing- 
ton and Peyton Randolph, to the General Congress called 
to meet in Philadelphia on the fifth of September, follow- 
ing. In that Congress, Mr. Lee was one of the prime 
movers, and his convincing and persuasive eloquence 
nerved the timid to act ind speak out boldly for the 
rights of the colonists. His conduct there made a pro- 
found impression upon the public mind, and he stood be- 

* Long before n on -importation agreements were proposed, Mr. Lee practised 
the measure. In order to show the people of Great Britain that America was re- 
ally independent of them in matters of luxury, as well as necessity, he cultivated 
native grapes, and produced most excellent wine. He sent several bottles to his 
friends in Great Britain, - to testify his respect and gratitude for those who had 
shown particular kindness to Americans." He told them that it was the produc. 
tion of his own hills ; and he ordered his merchant in London, who had before 
furnished his wine, not to send any more, aor any other articles on which Parlia* 
ment had imposed a duty to be paid by Americans. 

1 One of these resolutions proposed the calling of a Genera. Congress, but even 
the warmest partisans thought this measure altogether too rash to be thought of. 



RICHARD HENRY LEE. 171 

fore his countrymen as one of the brightest lights of the 
age. 

Mr. Lee was elected a member of the House of Bur- 
gesses of Virginia as soon as he returned home from 
Congress, and there his influence was unbounded. He 
was again elected a delegate to the General Congress 
for the session of 1775, and the instructions and commis- 
sion to General Washington as commander-in-chief of 
the Continental army were the productions of his pen. 
He was placed upon the most important committees, and 
the second " Address" of Congress to the people of Great 
Britain, which created such a sensation in that country, 
was written by him. During a short recess in September, 
he was actively engaged in the Virginia Assembly where 
he effectually stripped the mask from the " conciliatory 
measures," so called, of Lord North, which were evidently 
arranged to deceive and divide the American people. 
By this annihilation of the last vestige of confidence in 
royalty, in the hearts of the people of Virginia, he became 
very obnoxious to Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of 
the province, and he tried many ways to silence the 
patriot. 

Mr. Lee was a delegate in the Congress of 1776, and 
on the seventh day of June of that year, pursuant to the 
dictates of his own judgment and feelings, and in obe- 
dience to the express instructions of the Assembly of Vir- 
ginia, he introduced the resolution so often referred to in 
these memoirs, for a total separation from the mother-coun- 
try.* The consideration of the resolution was made the 
special order of the day, for the first Monday in July, and 
a committee, of which Thomas Jefferson was chairman, 
was appointed to draw up a Declaration of Indepen- 

* The resolution was as follows : -" Resolved, That these United Colonies are, 
and of right ought to be, free and independent States ; that they are absolved from 
all allegiance to the British Crown ; and that all political connection between then 
and the State of Great Britain; is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." 



172 VIRGINIA. 

dence* This document \\ as presented to Congress on 
the first day of July ; and after several amendments 
made in committee of the whole, it was adopted on the 
fourth, by the unanimous votes of the thirteen United 
Colonies. 

Mr. Lee continued an active and indefatigable member 
of Congress until 1779, when, as lieutentant of the county 
of Westmoreland, he entered the field at the head 
of the militia, in defence of his State. He was oc- 
casionally absent from Congress on account of his health, 
and once on account of being charged with toryism, be- 
cause he received his rents in produce, instead of the de- 
preciated continental currency ! He demanded and ob- 
tained an investigation before the Virginia Assembly, 
and it resulted in the passage of a resolution of thanks 
for his many services in and out of Congress, and by his 
immediate re-election to a seat there. 

Mr. Lee was again chosen a delegate to Congress in 
1783, and was elected President thereof by the unani- 
mous voice of that body. He filled the high station with 
ability, and at the end of the session received the thanks 
of that assembly. Although not a member of any legis- 
lative assembly when the Federal Constitution was sub- 
mitted to the several States for action, he wielded a pow- 
erful influence, in connection with Patrick Henry and 
others, in opposing its ratification by Virginia, without 
amendments. But when it was finally adopted and be- 
came the organic law of the Union, he cheerfully united 
in carrying it into effect, and was chosen the first Senator 

* The Committee consisted of Thomas Jefferson, Dr. Franklin, John Adams. 
Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. It may be asked, why was not Mr. 
Lee, by common courtesy, at least, put upon that committee, and designated ita 
chairman ? The reason was, that on the very day he offered the resolution, ao 
express arrived from Virginia, informing him of the illness of some of his family 
which caused him to ask leave of absence, and he immediately started for homa 
He was therefore absent from Congress when the committee was formed. 



RICHARD HENRY LEE. 173 

from Virginia under it. He retained the office until the 
infirmities of age compelled him to retire from public 
life, and he there enjoyed, amid the quietude of domes- 
tic retirement, the fruits of a well -spent existence. 

His last days were crowned with all the honor and rev- 
erence which a grateful people could bestow upon a ben- 
efactor, and when death cut his thread of life, a nation 
truly mourned. He sunk to his final rest on the nine- 
teenth day of June, 1794, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. 

Mr. Lee was a sincere practical Christian, a kind and af- 
fectionate husband and parent, e. generous neighbor, a 
constant friend, and in all the relations of life, he main- 
tained a character above reproach. " His hospitable door," 
says Sanderson, " was open to all ; the poor and desti- 
tute frequented it for relief, and consolation ; the young 
for instruction ; the old for happiness ; while a numerous 
family of children, the offspring of two marriages, clus- 
tered around and clung to each other in fond affection, 
imbibing the wisdom of their father, while they were ani- 
mated and delighted by the amiable serenity and capti- 
vating graces of his conversation. The necessities of his 
country occasioned frequent absence ; but every return 
to his home was celebrated by the people as a festival ; 
for he was their physician, their «. ounsellor, and the arbi- 
ter of their differences. The medicines which he im- 
ported were carefully and judiciously dispensed ; and the 
equity of his decision was never controverted by a court 
oi law." 





€^9t772- 




merican history presents few names to 
its students more attractive and dis- 
tinguished than that of Thomas Jef- 
ferson, and rarely has a single indi- 
vidual, in civil station, acquired such 
an ascendency over the feelings and 
actions of a people, as was possessed by the subject of 
this brief memoir. To trace the lines of his character and 
career, is a pleasing task for every American whose mind 
is fixed upon the political destiny of his country, and we 
regret the narrow limits to which our pen is confined. 

174 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 175 

Mr. Jefferson's family were among the early British 
emigrants to Virginia. His ancestors came from Wales, 
from near the great Snowdon mountain. His grandfather 
settled in Chesterfield, and had three sons, Thomas, Field, 
and Peter. The latter married Jane, daughter of Isham 
Randolph, of Goochland, of Scotch descent ; and on the 
thirteenth of April, 1743, she became the mother of the 
subject of this sketch. They resided at that time at Shad- 
well, in Albermarle county, Virginia. Thomas was the 
eldest child. His father died when he was fourteen years 
old, leaving a widow and eight children — two sons, and six 
daughters. He left a handsome estate to his family ; and 
the lands, which he called Monticello, fell to Thomas, 
where the latter always resided when not engaged in 
public duty, and where he lived at the time of his death. 

Thomas entered a grammar school at the age of five 
years, and when nine years old he commenced the study 
of the classics with a Scotch clergyman named Douglas. 
On the death of his father, the Reverend Mr. Maury be- 
came his preceptor ; and in the spring of 1760, he entered 
William and Mary College, where he remained two years 
From Doctor William Small, a professor of mathematics 
in the college, he received his first philosophical teach- 
ings, and the bias of his mind concerning subjects of 
scientific investigation seemed to have received its initial 
impetus from that gentleman. Through his influence, in 
1762, young Jefferson was admitted as a student-at-law 
in the office of George Wythe, the intimate friend of Gov- 
ernor Fauquier, at whose table our subject became a wel- 
come guest. 

In 1765, while yet a student, Jefferson beard the cele- 
brated speech of Patrick Henry against the Stamp Act ; 
and fired by its doctrines, he at once stood forth the avowed 
* ampion of American freedom. So manifest were his 

tents, that in 1769 he was elected ameirber of the Vir- 



176 VIRGINIA. 

ginia Legislature, and became at once active and popular 
there.* He filled that station until the period of the Rev- 
olution, when he was called to the performance of more 
exalted duties in the national council. 

He was married in January, 1772, to Mrs. Martha 
Skelton, a wealthy widow of twenty-three, who was the 
daughter of John Wales, an eminent Virginia lawyer. 

When the system of committees of correspondence was 
established in 1773, Mr. Jefferson was a member of the 
first committee in Virginia, and was very active with his 
pen. In 1774, his powerfully wiitten pamphlet was pub- 
lished, called " A Summary View of the Rights of British 
America." It was addressed to the king, and was pub- 
lished in England, under the auspices of Edmund Burke 

He was elected a delegate to represent Virginia in the 
Continental Congress of 1775, and for several years he 
was one of the most efficient members of that body. He 
60on became distinguished among the men of talents there, 
although comparatively young ; and when, in the succeed- 
ing year, a committee was appointed to draught a Decla- 
ration of Independence, he was chosen one of the mem- 
bers. Although the youngest member of the committee, 
he was appointed chairman, and was requested by the 
others to draw up the instrument, which he did, and his 
draught was adopted, with a very few verbal amendments, 
on the fourth of July, 1776. This instrument forms an 
everlasting monument to his memory, and gives, by far, a 
wider rarge to the fame of his talents and patriotism, than 
eloquent panegyric or sculptured epitaph. 

* He made strong but unsuccessful efforts in the Virginia Assembly for the 
emancipation of the slaves. 

t This pamphlet gave great offence to Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of 
Virginia, who threatened to prosecute him for high treason. And because his as- 
sociates in the Virginia Assembly sustained Jefferson, Dunmore dissolved it They 
assembled in a private capacity, aud drew up a remonstrance, which had a pow- 
erful effect upon the people. The governor perceived that his aots were futila, 
•nd he alio ived the matter to rest. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 177 

During the summer of "1776, he was elected to a seat 
m the Virginia Assembly, and, desirous of serving his own 
State> he resigned his seat in Congress and returned to 
Virginia. He was soon afterward appointed a joint com- 
missioner with Dr. Franklin and Silas Deane, for negotia- 
ting treaties with France, but circumstances caused him to 
decline the acceptance of the proffered honor, and he con- 
tinued in Virginia during the remaining period of the Rev 
olution, actively engaged in the service of his State. He 
received a third election to Congress, but declined it, ana 
was succeeded by Benjamin Harrison, the father of the 
late President. 

From the early part of 1^77 to the middle of 1779, 
Mr. Jefferson was assiduously employed, conjointly with 
George Wythe and Edmund Pendleton, on a commission 
for revising the laws of Virginia. The duty was a most 
arduous one ; and to Mr. Jefferson belongs the imperish- 
able honor of being the first to propose, in the Legislature 
of Virginia, the laws forbidding the importation of slaves; 
converting estates tail* into fee simple ; annulling the 
rights of primogeniture ;t establishing schools for general 
education ; and confirming the rights of freedom in re- 
ligious opinion. 

Congress having resolved not to suffer the prisoners 
captured at Saratoga, under Burgoyne, to leave the United 
States until the convention, entered into by Gates and Bur- 
goyne, should be ratified by the British government, they 
were divided, and sent to the different States, to be pro- 
vided for during the interval. A division of them was 

* A law entitled fee tail was adopted in the time of Edward I. of England, and 
at the period in question extended to all the English colonies. It restrained the 
alienation of lands and tenements by one to whom they had been given, with a 
limitation to a particular class of heirs. A fee-simple estate is one in which the 
owner has absolute power to dispose of it as he pleases; and if in his possessioB 
when he dies, it descends to his heirs general. 

t This right belonged to the eldest son, who succeeded to the estate of his an 
cestor, to the exclusion of his brothers and sisters. This is still the law io England 

12 



178 VIRGINIA. 

sent, early in 1779, into the interior of Virginia, near the 
residence of Mr. Jeffersoi. and his benevolent feelings 
were strongly exhibited by his sympathy for these ene- 
mies of his country. The prisoners were in great dis- 
tress, and Mr. Jefferson and his friends did all in their 
power to alleviate their sufferings. An apprehended 
scarcity of provisions, determined Governor Patrick Henry 
to remove them to another part of the State, or out of it 
entirely. At this the officers and men were greatly dis- 
tressed, and Mr. Jefferson wrote a touching appeal to the 
governor in their behalf, and they were allowed to remain.* 

In June, 1779, Mr. Jefferson succeeded Mr. Henry a? 
governor of Virginia, and the close of his administratior 
was a period of great difficulty and danger. His State 
became the theatre of predatory warfare, the infamous 
Arnold having entered it with British and tory troops, and 
commenced spreading desolation with fire and sword along 
the James river. Richmond, the capital, was partly des- 
troyed, and Jefferson and his council narrowly escaped 
capture. He tried, but in vain, to get possession of the 
person of Arnold, but the wily traitor was too cautious 
for him. 

Very soon after his retirement to private life, Tarleton, 
who attempted to capture the members of the legislature 
convened at Charlottesville, a short distance from Jeffer- 
son's residence, came very near taking him prisoner. Jef- 
fe?8on tid sent his family away in his carriage, and re- 
man.™ to attend to some matters in his dwelling, when 
he saw tie cavalry ascending a hill toward his house. He 
mounted a fleet horse, dashed through the woods, and 
reached his family in safety. 

* The officers and soldiers were very grateful to Mr. Jefferson, and when they 
were about to depart for England, the former united in n letter of thanks to him. 
Mr. Jefferson, in reply, disclaimed the performance of any great service to them, 
and said : " Opposed as we happen to be in our sentiments of duty and honor, 
•nd anxious for contrary events, I shall, nevertheless, sincerely rejoice in evarf 
•ircumsUnce of happiness and safety which may attend you personally. ' 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 179 

« 

M. de Marbois, secretary of the French legation in the 
United States, having questioned Mr. Jefferson respecting 
the resources, &c, of his native State, he wrote, in 1781, 
his celebrated work entitled " Notes on Virginia." The 
great amount of information which it contains, and the 
simple perspicuity of its style, made its author exceed- 
ingly popular in Europe as a writer and man of science, 
in addition to his character as a statesman. 

In 1782, he was appointed a minister plenipotentiary 
to assist others in negotiating a treaty of peace with Great 
Britain; but information of the preliminaries having been 
signed, reached Congress before his departure, and he did 
.iot go. He was soon after elected a delegate to Congress, 
and was chairman of the committee, in 1783, to whom 
the treaty With Great Britain was referred. On their re- 
port, the treaty was unanimously ratified. 

In 1784, he wrote an essay on coinage and currency 
for the United States, and to him we are indebted for the 
convenient denominations of our federal money, the dollar 
as a unit, and he system of decimals. 

In May of .i is year, he was appointed, with Adams 
and Franklin, a minister to negotiate treaties of commerce 
v/ith foreign nations. In company with his eldest daugh- 
ter, he reached Paris in August. Dr. Franklin having 
obtained leave to return home, Mr. Jefferson was appoint- 
ed to succeed him as minister at the French court, and 
he remained in France, until October, 1789. While 
there, he became popular amoi»g the literati, and his so- 
liety was courted by the leading writers of the day. 
* During his absence the constitution had been formed, 
and under it Washington had been elected and inaugurated 
President of the United States. His visit home was un- 
der leave of absence, but Washington offered him a seat 
in his cabinet as secretary of state, and gave him his 
choice to remain in that capacity or retursi to France, 



180 VIRGINIA. 

He cii «e to remain, ancTne was one of the most efficient 
aids to the President during the stormy period of his first 
administration. He differed in opinion with Washington 
respecting the kindling revolution in France, but he 
agreed with him on the question of the neutrality of the 
United States. His bold avowal of democratic senti- 
ments, and his expressed sympathies with the struggling 
populace of France in their aspirations for republicanism, 
made him the leader of the democratic party here, op- 
posed to the federal administration of Washington ;* and 
in 1793 he resigned his seat in the cabinet. 

In 1796, he was the republican candidate for Presi- 
dent, in opposition to John Adams. Mr. Adams suc- 
ceeded, and Mr. Jefferson was elected Vice-President.t 
In 1800, he was again nominated for President, and re- 
ceived a majority of votes over Mr. Adams. Aaron Burr 
was on the ticket with him, and received an equal num- 
ber of votes ; but on the thirty-sixth balloting, two of 
Burr's fiiends withdrew, and Mr. Jefferson was elected. 

Mr. Jefferson's administration continv^d eight years, 
he having been elected for a second term The most pro- 
minent measures of his administration, were the purchase 
of Louisiana from France,! the embargo on the commerce 
and ocean-navigation of the United States ;§ the non- 

* In 1791, Washington asked his opinion respecting a national bank, a bill tor 
which had been passed by Congress and approved by Washington. He gave his 
opinion in writing, and strongly objected to the measure as being unconstitutional. 

t At that time, the candidate receiving the next highest number of votes to the 
one elected president, was vice prei|ident. The constitution, on that point, has since 
been altered. During the time he was vice president, he wrote a manual for the 
Senate, which is still the standard of parliamentary rule in Congress and other 
bodies. 

I The United States agreed to pay fifteen millions of dollars to France for Lou- 
isiana (an area of more than a million of square miles), four millions of which 
France allowed to go toward the payment of indemnities for spoliations during 
peace. 

§ The Embargo Act prohibited all American vessels from sailing for foreign 
ports ; all foreign vessels from taking out cargoes ; and all coasting vessels were 
required to give bond* to land their «**rgoea in the United States. These restart* 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 181 

intercourse and non-importation systems ; the gun-boat 
experiment ;* the suppression of Burr's expedition down 
the Mississippi river ;t and the sending of an exploring 
company to the region of the Rocky mountains, and 
westward to the Pacific ocean.J Mr. Jefferson also in- 
troduced the practice of communicating with Congress 
by message, instead of by a personal address ; a prac- 
tice followed by all the Presidents since his time. The 
foreign relations of the United States during the whole 
time of his administration were in a very perplexing 
condition, yet he managed with so much firmness, that he 
kept other powers at bay, and highly exalted our Repub- 
lic among the family of nations. 

At the close of his second Presidential term, Mr. Jef- 
ferson retired to private life, and amid the quiet scenes of 
Monticello, he spent the remaining seventeen years of 
his being, in philosophical and agricultural pursuits. 
Through his instrumentality, a university was founded 
in 1818, at Charlottesville, near Monticello, of which he 
was rector until his death, and a liberal patron as far as 
his means would allow. 

Toward the close of his life, his pecuniary affairs be- 
came embarrassed, and he was obliged to sell his library, 
which Congress purchased for thirty thousand dollars. 
A short time previous to his death, he received permis- 

tive measures were intended so to affect the commerce of Great Britain, as to bring 
that government to a fair treaty of amity and commerce. 

* Mr. Jefferson recommended the construction of a large number of gun-boats 
for the protection of American harbors. But they were unpopular with navy 
officers, and being liable to destruction by storms, the scheme, after a brief experi- 
ment, was abandoned. 

t Aaron Burr organized a military expedition, ostensibly to act against the re. 
public of Mexico ; but the belief being generally entertained that it was really in- 
tended to dissever the Union, and form a separate government in the valley of 
the Missisaippi, he was arrested, in 1807, on a charge of high treason. He was tried 
and acquitted. 

| This expedition was under the direction of Captains Lewis and Clarke, and 
they made a toilsoms overland journey from the Mississippi to the mouth of th* 
Columbia River. — 



l82 VIRGINIA. 

6ion from the Legislature of Virginia, to dispose of hit 
estate by lottery, to prevent its being sacrificed to pay his 
debts. He did not live to see it consummated. 

In the spring of 1826, his bodily infirmities greatly in- 
creased, and in June he was confined wholly to his bed. 
About the first of July he seemed free from disease, and 
his friends had hopes of his recovery ; but it was his 
own conviction that he should die, and he gave directions 
accordingly. On the third, he inquired the day of the 
month. On being told, he expressed an ardent desire to 
live until the next day, to breathe the air of the fiftieth 
anniversary of his country's independence. His wish was 
granted : and on the morning of the fourth, after having 
expressed his gratitude to his friends and servants for 
their care, he said with a distinct voice, " I resign myself 
to my God, and my child to my country."* These were 
his last words, and about noon on that glorious day he 
expired. It was a most remarkable coincidence that two 
of the committee (Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson) who 
drew up the Declaration of Independence ; who signed 
it ; who successively held the office of Chief Magistrate, 
should have died at nearly the same hour on the fiftieth 
anniversary of that solemn act. 

He was a little over eighty-three years of age at the 
time of his death. Mr. Jefferson's manner was simple 
but dignified, and his conversational powers were of the 
rarest value. He was exceedingly kind and benevo- 
lent, an indulgent master to his servants, liberal and 

* Mrs. Randolph, whom he tenderly loved. Just before he died, he handed her 
a morocco case, with a request that she would not open it until after his decease. 
It contained a poetical tribute to her virtues, and an epitaph for his tomb, if any 
should be placed upon it. He wished his monument to be a small granite obelisk 
with this inscription : — 

" Here was buried 
Thomas Jefferson, 
Author of the Declaration of Independence, 
Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, 
And Father of the University of Virginia." 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



183 



friendly to his neighbors. He possessed remarkable 
equanimity of temper, and it is said he was never seen 
in a passion.* His friendship was lasting and ardent ; 
and he was confiding and never distrustful. 

In religion he was a freethinker ; in morals, pure and 
unspotted ; in politics, patriotic, honest, ardent and be- 
nevolent. Respecting his political character, there was 
(and still is) a great diversity of opinion, and we are not 
yet far enough removed from the theatre of his acts to 
judge of them dispassionately and justly. His life was 
devoted to his country; the result of his acts whatever 
it may be, is a legacy to mankind. 

t During his presidency, Humboldt, the celebrated traveller, once visiting him, 
discovered in a newspaper upon his table, a vile and slanderous attack upon hi» 
character. " Why do you not hang the man?" asked Humboldt. «' Put the paper 
in your pocket," said Jefferson, with a smile, " and on your return to your coun- 
try, if any one doubts the freedom of our press, show it to him, and tell him where 
yju found it." 




"Monticello, Mr. J93er8on.'s Residence." 




*^ <s*y Z/?a 




enjamin Harrison was born in Berkley, 
in Virginia, but the exact time of his birth 
is not certainly known. Kis ancestors 
were among the earlier settlers of that 
colony, having emigrated thither from 
England, in the year 1640. His paternal ancestor mar- 
ried in the family of the king's surveyor-general, and this 
gave him an opportunity to select the most fertile regions 
of the State for settlement and improvement. Thus he 
laid the foundation of that large estate which is still in the 
hands of the family. 

184 



BENJAMIN HARRISON. 185 

The subject of this sketch was placed by his father in 
the college of William and Mary, with a view of giving 
him a thorough classical education. He was there at the 
time of his father's decease, which was sudden and aw- 
ful ;* and having had a dispute with one of the professors,, 
he left the institution before the close of his term, and 
never returned to get his degree. Being the eldest of 
six sons, the management of the estate of his father de- 
volved on him at his decease, and, although then a minor 
he performed his duties with great fidelity and skill. 

Young Harrison, at a very early age, became a mem- 
ber of the Virginia House of Buroesses, a where 

a 1764. 

his talents and sound judgment won for him the 
confidence and esteem of all parties. He was soon elected 
Speaker, and became one of the most influential men in 
that Assembly, where he occupied a seat during the 
greater part of his life. His great wealth, distinguished 
family connections, and personal worth, attracted the at- 
tention of the royal governor, who, desirous of retaining 
him on the side of the government, when the political agi- 
tations caused by the Stamp Act took place, offered him a 
seat in the executive council. But he had narrowly 
watched the gradual development of events, and he was 
convinced that a systematic scheme for enslaving the colo- 
nies was being matured by the home government. He 
therefore rejected the offer of the governor, bold 1 ./ avowed 
his attachment to the republican cause, and joyred with 
the patriotic burgesses of Virginia in their opposition to 
the oppressive acts of the British government.! 

Mr. Harrison was one of the first seven delegates from 

* This venerable man, and two of his four daughters, were instantly struck 
dead by lightning, during a violent thunder storm, in their mansion house at 
Berkley. 

t Even before the Stamp Act was proposed, some of the measures of the Brit- 
ish Parliament, affecting the interests of the American colonies, produced alarm, 
and the Virginia House of Assembly appointed a committee to draw up an addreea 
or petition to the king. Mr. Harrison was one of that committee. 






186 VIRGINU 

Virginia to the Continental Congress of 1774, and he had 
the gratification of seeing Peyton Randolph, a very near 
relative, and his colleague from Virginia, elected presi- 
dent of that august body. Immediately after the return 
of the delegates to Virginia, a convention met in Rich- 
mond, and all the acts of the General Congress were sanc- 
tioned by them. They re-elected Mr. Harrison, with 
others, a delegate to the Congress of 1775, which met on 
the tenth of May of that year. During the autumn, he 
was appointed by Congress one of a committee to visit 
the army under Washington, at Cambridge near Boston 
and co-operate with the Commander-in-Chief in devising 
plans for future operations. Toward the close of 1775, 
he was appointed chairman of a committee to carry on 
foreign correspondence,* and in that capacity he labored 
with fidelity until the spring of 1777, when the necessity 
of such a committee no longer existed ; a special agent or 
commissioner having been sent to Europe, and a new 
committee on foreign affairs organized, with different du- 
ties ; and a secretary, who received a stipulated salary. 

Mr. Harrison was constantly employed in active ser- 
vice, and was always among the first in advocating deci- 
sive and energetic measures. He was warmly in favor 
of independence, and when that great question was under 
discussion in committee of the whole, he was in the chair. 
He voted for the Declaration of Independence, on the 
fourth of .I'uly, 1776, and signed it on the second of Au- 
gust following. In 1777, his private affairs, and also public 
matters in his own State, demanded his presence there, 
and he resigned his seat in Congress and returned home. 

* Congress deemed it essential to have a good understanding with the rival 
powers of Great Britain, and in order to have some communication with them 
(which could not be done by open diplomacy) this committee was established 
for the purpose, ae expressed by the resolution constituting it, " to hold coi» 
respoudence with the friends of America in Great Britain, Ireland, ax»i otlut 
parts of the toorld." 



BENJAMIN HARRISON. 187 

He was immediately elected a member of the House of 
Burgesses, and as soon as he took his seat, he was elevated 
to the Speaker's chair. That office he held until 17S2, 
without interruption. 

Having been appointed lieutenant of his native county, 
(which appointment constituted him commander of all the 
militia, with the title of colonel, and also presiding judge 
in all the civil courts of the county,) he was very active 
and efficient at the time the traitor Arnold invaded Vir- 
ginia, and afterward when Cornwallis made incursions 
into it. 

In 1782, Mr. Harrison was elected governor of the 
State, and he managed public affairs at that trying time, 
with great ability and firmness. He was governor two 
successive terms, and then retired to private life. But he 
was almost immediately elected a member of the House 
of Burgesses, and again resumed the Speaker's chair, by 
election. 

In the year 1790, he was nominated for governor, but 
he declined on account of the then incumbent having filled 
the chair only two years ; and he successfully promoted 
his re-election. Mr. Harrison was again elected governor 
in 1791, and the day after his election he invited a party of 
friends to dine with him. He had been suffering a good 
deal from gout in the stomach, but had nearly recovered. 
That night he experienced a relapse, and the next day 
death ended his sufferings. This event occurred in 
April, 1791. 

Mr. Harrison was married in early life, to a niece of 
Mrs. Washington, Miss Elizaoeth Bassett, who lived but 
one year after her husband's decease. T>ey had a nu- 
merous offspring, but only seven lived to mature age. One 
of these was the lamented and venerated William Henry 
Harrison, late President of the United States. 





homas Nelson was born at Yorktown, 
in Virginia, on the twenty-sixth of De- 
cember, 1738. His father, William Nel- 
son was a native of England, and emi- 
grated to America about the beginning 
of the last century. By prudence and 
industry he accumulated a large fortune, and held rank 
among the first families of Virginia. 

Thomas was the oldest son of his parents, and his 
father, in conformity to the fashion of the times among the 
opulent of that province, sent him to England at the age 
of fourteen years to be educated. He was placed in a 

188 



THOMAS NELSON, JR. 189 

distinguished private school not far from London, and af- 
ter completing a preparatory course of studies there, he 
went.to Cambridge and was entered a member of Trinity 
College. He there enjoyed the private instructions of 
the celebrated Dr. Proteus, afterward the Bishop of Lon- 
don. He remained there, a close and diligent student 
intil 1761, when he returned to America. 

Mr. Nelson watched with much interest the movements 
of the British Parliament, during and after the time of 
the administration of Mr. Grenville,* and his sympathies 
were keenly alive in favor of the Americans and their 
cause. His first appearance in public life, was in 1774, 
when he was elected a member of the House of Burges- 
ses of Virginia, and there he took sides with the patriots. 
It was during that session, that the resolutions reproba- 
ting the " Boston Port Bill" caused Lord Dunmore, the 
royal governor of Virginia, to dissolve the Assembly. 
Eighty-nine of the members, among whom was Mr. 
Nelson, met the next day at a neighboring tavern, and 
formed an association far more efficient in throwing up 
the strong bulwarks of freedom, than was the regular As- 
sembly. Mr Nelson was a member of the first general 
convention of Virginia, which met at Williams burgh in 
August, 1774, and elected delegates to the first Continen- 
tal Congress. In the spring of 1775, he was elected a 
member of another general convention, and there he dis- 
played such boldness of spirit, that he was looked upon 
as an efficient leader in the patriotic movements of the 
day. Much to the alarm of his friends, he proposed in 
that convention, the bold and almost treasonable measure 
of organizing the militia of the State for the defence of 

* George Grenville, the Prime Minister of England in 1705, was the author of 
the Stamp Act. He is represented as an honest, but short-sighted politician, and 
the Stamp Act was doubtless more an error of his head than of his heart. He 
Baw an empty treasury, with large demands upon it waiting to be satisfied, and 
he thought to replenish it by taxing the American colonies 



190 VIRGINIA. 

the chartered rights of the people. Patrick Henry, Ri:h- 
ard Henry Lee, and others, warmly seconded the pro- 
position, and it was adopted by the convention.* This 
act told Governor Dunmore and his royal master, in lan- 
guage that could not be mistaken, that Virginia was de- 
termined to exercise with freedom all the privileges 
guarantied to her by the British Constitution.! 

In August 1774, the Virginia convention elected Mr. 
Nelson a delegate to the General Congress, and he took 
his seat in September. There he was very active, and 
gave such entire satisfaction to his constituents that he 
was unanimously re-elected for 1776. Although he sel- 
dom took part in the debates, he was assiduous and effi- 
cient in committee duty. He was a zealous supporter of 
the proposition for independence, and voted for and 
signed the declaration thereof. 

In the spring of 1777, Mr. Nelson was seized with an 
alarming illness, which confined ils attack chiefly to his 
head, and nearly deprived him, for a time, of his powers 
of memory. His friends urged him to withdraw from 
Congress for the purpose of recruiting his health, but he 
was loath to desert his post. He was, however, compelled 
to leave Philadelphia, and he returned to Virginia to re- 
cruit, with the hope and expectation of speedily resuming 
his seat in Congress. But his convalescence was slow, 
and when the convention met, he resigned his seat and 
retired to private life. But he was not suffered long to 

* Mr. Nelson was appointed to the command of one regiment, Patrick Henry of 
another, and Richard Henry Lee of another, each holding the rank of colonel. 

t It was not long before the wisdom of those military movements became ap- 
parent, for the royal governor of Virginia, as well as those of some of the other 
colonies, attempted to spcure the powder and other munitions of war in the public 
magazines, under a secret order from the British ministry. This movement 
clearly divulged the premeditated design of disarming the people, and reducing 
them to slavery. The interesting movements in Virginia which immediately pre- 
ceded the abdication of the royal governor, and his escape on board a British ship- 
of- war, cannot be detailed within our brief space, axJ we must rsierthe reader la 
the published history of the times. 



THOMAS NELSON, JR. 191 

remain there, for the appearance of a British fleet off* the 
coast of Virginia, and the contemplated attack of the 
enemy upon the almost defenceless seaboard, called him 
into the field at the head of the militia of the State.* 
The alarm soon subsided, for the fleet of Lord Howe, in- 
stead of landing a force upon Virginia, sailed up the 
Chesapeake bay for the purpose of making an attack, by 
land, upon Philadelphia. 

About this time, the financial embarrassments of Con- 
gress caused that tody to make an appeal to the young 
men of the Union, of wealth and character, to aid in re 
cruiting the army, and otherwise assisting their country. 
Mr. Nelson entered heartily into the measure, and by the 
free use of his influence and purse, he raised a volunteer 
corps, who placed him at their head, and proceeded to 
join Washington at Philadelphia.! Their services were 
not called into requisition, and they returned home, bear- 
ing the honor of a vote of thanks from Congress. The 
physical activity which this expedition produced, had 
an excellent effect upon General Nelson's health, and 
in 1779, he consented to be again elected a delegate 
to the Continental Congress. He took his seat in 
February, but a second attack of his old complaint 
obliged him to leave it in April, and return home. In 
May, the predatory operations of the enemy upon the 
coast, in burning Portsmouth, and threatening Norfolk 
and other places, caused General Nelson again to resume 
the services of the field. He collected a large force and 

* Mr. Nelson's popularity at that time in Virginia was almost unbounded. Tica 
governor and council appointed him Brigadier General and Commander-in-Chief 
of the military forces of the State. 

t The sudden call of the militia from their homes left many families in embar. 
rassed circumstances, for a great part of the agricultural operations were sus- 
pended. General Nelson used the extent of his means in ameliorating the con« 
dition of their families, by having his own numerous servants till their land. Ho 
also distributed his money liberally among them, and thus more than a hundred 
families were kept from absolute want. 



192 VIRGINIA. 

proceeded to Yorktown, but the fleet of the enemy soon 
afterward returned to New-\oik. 

[n 1781, Virginia became the chief theatre of warlike 
operations. The traitor Arnold, and General Phillips, 
with a small flotilla ravaged the coasts and ascended the 
rivers on predatory excursions; and Cornwallis, ftom 
southern fields of strife, marched victoriously over the 
lower counties of the State. About this time, the term 
of Mr. Jefferson's official duties as Governor of the State 
expired, and General Nelson was elected his successor. 
This, however, did not drive him from the field, but as 
ooth governor and commander-in-chief of the militia 
of the State,* he placed himself at the head of a con- 
siderable force, and formed a junction with La Fayette, 
who had been sent there to check the northward 
progress of Cornwallis. By great personal exertions and 
a liberal use of his own funds, t he succeeded in keeping 
his force together until the capture of Cornwallis at 
Yorktown. He headed a body of militia in the siege of 
that place, and although he owned a fine mansion in the 
town, he did not hesitate to bombard* it.| In this as in 

* The active Colonel Tarleton, of the British army, made every effort to effect 
the capture of the legislature of Virginia. He succeeded in getting some into his 
custody, and so irregular became their meetings, in consequence of being fre- 
qiu ntly obliged to disperse and dee for personal safety, that they passed an act 
which placed the government of the State in the hands of the governor and his 
council. The council, too, being scattered, General Nelson had the whole re- 
ttpon&ibility laid upon his shoulders, and in the exercise of his individual powers 
he was compelled, by the exigencies of the times, to do some things that were not 
strictly legal ; but the legislature subsequently legalized all his acts. 

t Mr. Nelson made many and great pecuniary sacrifices for his country. When, 
in L7S0, the French fleet was hourly expected, Congress felt it highly necessary 
that provision should be made for them. But its credit was prostrate, and its 
calls upon the States were tardily responded to. Virginia proposed to raise two 
millions of dollars, and Mr. Nelson at once opened a subscription list. But many 
wealthy men told Mr. Nelson that they would not contribute a penny on the secu- 
rity of the Commonwealth, but they would lend him all he wanted. He at once 
added his personal security. 

X During the siege he observed that while the Americans poured their shot and 
shells thick aud fast into every part of the town, they seemed carefully to avoid 



THOMAS NELSON, JR. 193 

everything else, his patriotism was conspicuous, and 
General Washington in his official account of the siege, 
made honorable mention of the great services of Gover- 
n dv Nelson and his militia. 

Within a month after the battle of Yorktown, Governor 
Nelson, finding his health declining, resigned his office 
and retired to private life. It was at this period, while 
endeavoring to recruit his health by quiet and repose, 
that he was charged with mal-practice, while governor, as 
alluded to in a preceding note. A full investigation took 
place, and the legislature, as before mentioned, legalized 
his acts, and they also acquitted him of all the charges 
preferred. He never again appeared in public life, but 
6pent the remainder of his days alternately at his man- 
sion in Yorktown, and his estate at Offly. His health 
gradually declined until 1789, when, on the fourth day 
of January, his useful life closed. He was in the fifty- 
third year of his age. 

firing in the direction of his house. Governor Nelson inquired why his house wa» 
spared, and was informed that it was out of personal regard for him. He at once 
begged them not to make any ditference on that account, and at once a well di- 
rected fire was opened upon it. At that moment a number of British officers oc- 
cupied it, and were at dinner enjoying a feast, and making merry with wine. Th« 
eb')ts of the Americans entered the house, and killing two of the officers, effec- 
fvaUy ended the cor.viviality of the party. 



16 





rancis Ltghtfoot Lee, a younger bri> 
ther of Richard Henry Lee, was bora 
in Westmoreland county, Virginia, on 
the fourteenth day of October, 1734. 
He was too young when his father dieo 
Sa. to be sent abroad to be educated, but 
Was favoi ed with every advantage in the way of learn 
ing which the colony afforded. He was placed at ao 
early age under the care of the Reverend Doctoi 
Craig, a Scotch clergyman of eminent piety and learn- 
ing. His excellent tutor not only educated his head but 

194 



FRANCIS LIGH'POOT LEE. 195 

lis heart, and laid the foundation of character, upon 
which the noble superstructure, which his useful life ex 
hibited, was reared. 

On the return of Richard Henry Lee from England, 
whither he had been to acquire a thorough education, 
Francis, who was then just stepping from youth into man- 
hood, was deeply impressed with his various acquirements 
and polished manners, and adopted him as a model for 
imitation, He leaned upon his brother's judgment in all 
matters, and the sentiments which moved the one im- 
pelled the other to action. And when his brother with 
his sweet voice and persuasive manner, endeavored, by 
popular harangues, to arouse his friends and neighbors to 
a sense of the impending danger, .which act after act of 
British oppression shadowed forth, Francis caught his 
spirit ; and when he was old enough to engage in the 
strife of politics, he was a full-fledged patriot, and with 
a " pure heart and clean hands" he espoused the cause of 
freedom. 

In 1765, Mr. Lee was elected a member of the Vir- 
ginia House of Burgesses, for Loudon county, while his 
brother was member of the same House, for Westmoreland 
county. By annual election, he continued a member of the 
Virginia Assembly for Loudon, until 1772, when he mar- 
ried the daughter of Colonel John Taylor, of Richmond, 
and moved to that city. He was at once elected a mem- 
ber for Richmond, and continued to represent that county 
until 1775, when the Virginia Convention elected him a 
delegate to the Continental Congress. During his whole 
term of service in the General Assembly of his State, he 
always acted in concert with the patriotic burgesses. 
Mr. Lee was not a fluent speaker, and seldom engaged 
in debate ; but his sound judgment, unwavering principles, 
and persevering industry ; made him a useful member of 
9ny legislative assembly. He sympathized with his bro- 



196 VIRGINIA. 

ther in his yearnings for independence, and it was with 
great joy, that he voted for and signed the instrument 
which declared his country free. 

Mr. Lee continued in Congress, until 1 1 79, and was 
the member, for Virginia, of the committee which framed 
the Articles of Confederation. Early in the spring of 
1779, he retired from Congress and returned home, with 
the intention of withdrawing wholly from public life, to 
enjoy those sweets of domestic quiet which he so ardently 
loved. But his fellow citizens were unwilling to dispense 
with his valuable services, and elected him a member of 
the Virginia Senate. He, however, remained there but 
for a brief season, and then bade adieu to public employ- 
ments. He could never again be induced to leave his do- 
mestic pleasures ; and he passed the remainder of his days 
in agricultural pursuits, and the enjoyments to be derived 
from reading and study, and the cheerful intercourse with 
friends. Possessed of ample wealth, he used it like a 
philosopher and a Christian in dispensing its blessings for 
the benefit of his country and his fellow men. 

In April, 1797, he was prostrated by an attack of pleu- 
n9y, which terminated his life in the course of a few 
days. He was in the sixty-third year of his age. His 
wife was attacked by the same disease, and died a few 
days after the decease of her husband. 




^^pT^^\ arter Braxton was born at Newington, 
in King and Queen's county, Virginia, on 
the tenth of September, 1736. His father, 
George Braxton, was a wealthy farmer, and 
highly esteemed among the planters of Vir- 
ginia. His mother was the daughter of Robert Carter, 
who, for a time, was president of the royal council for 
that State. They both died while Carter and his brother 
George were quite young. 

Carter Braxton was educated at the college of William 
and Mary, and at the age of nineteen years, on leaving 
that institution, he was married to Miss Judith Robinsoir 
the daughter of a wealthy planter in Middlesex county. 
His own large fortune was considerably augmented by 
this marriage, and he was considered one of the wealthiest 
men in his native county.* 

In 1757, Mr. Braxton went to England, for the pur- 
pose of self-improvement and personal gratification. He 
remained there until 1760, when he returned to America, 
and soon afterward married the daughter of Mr. Corbin, 
the royal receiver-general of the customs of Virginia.t 
Notwithstanding the social position, and patrician con 
nections of Mr. Braxton, which would seem naturally to 
have attached him to the aristocracy, he was among the 
earliest in Virginia who raised the voice of patriotism. 
In 1765 he was a member of the House of Burgesses. 
How much earlier he appeared in public life is not cer- 
tainly known. He was present when Patrick Henry's 

* His wife died at the time of the birth of her second child, when she was not 
quite twenty-one years of age. 

t Mr. Braxton had a large family by hie second wife. She was the mother of 
•izteen children. 

197 



198 VIRGINIA. 

resolutions respecting the Stamp Act, were introduced, 
and was one of those who, fired by the wonderful elo- 
quence of the orator on that occasion, boldly voted in sup- 
port of them.* 

Mr. Braxton was a member of the Virginia Conven- 
tion in 17(39, when Lord Botetourt, one of the best dis- 
posed royal governors that ever ruled in Virginia, sud- 
denly dissolved it, in consequence of some acts therein 
which he deemed treasonable. Mr. Braxton was one of 
the members who immediately retired to a private room 
and signed a non -importation agreement. Lord Bote- 
tourt died toward the close of 1770, and was succeeded by 
Lord Dunmore, a man of very defective judgment and 
unyielding disposition, whose unpopular management 
greatly increased the spirit of opposition to ii yal misrule 
in Virginia. During the interval between the death of 
Botetourt and the arrival of Dunmore, Mr. Braxton held 
the office of high sheriff of the county where he resided, 
but he refused to hold it under the new governor. He 
was one of the eighty -nine members of the Assembly who, 
on the dissolution thereof by Governor Dunmore, in the 
summer of 1774, recommended a general convention of 
the people of Virginia, to meet at Williamsburg. They 
did so, and elected delegates to the Continental Congress, 
which met at Philadelphia on the fourth of the month fol- 
lowing. Mr. Braxton was a member of that convention. 

When, in 1777, the attempt of Lord Dunmore to take 

* The eloquence of Henry on that occasion, fell like successive thunderbolts 
on the ears of the timid Assembly. " It was in the midst of the magnificent de- 
bate on those resolutions," says Mr. Wirt, " while he was descanting on the tyr* 
ann. ! of the obnoxious Act, that he exclaimed, in a voice of thunder, and with the 
look of a God; 'Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell — and 
George the Third' — 'Treason!' cried the Speaker — ■ treason, treason,' echoed 
from every part of the House. It was one of those trying moments which are 
decisive of character. Henry faltered not for an instant ; but rising to a loftier 
altitude, and fixing on the Speaker an eye of the most determined fire, he finished 
the sentence with the firmest emphasis — ' and George the Third - may profit hj 
their exvsple. If that be tnasoa make the most of it.' " 



CARTER BRAXTON. 199 

the ammunit on from the public magazines on board the 
Fowey ship-of-war, then lying off Williamsburg, excited 
the people to the highest pitch, and threatened open re- 
bellion and armed resistance,* Mr. Braxton, by a wise 
and prudent course, succeeded in quelling the disturbance, 
and in bringing about such an arrangement as quite satis 
fied the people, and probably saved the town from de 
struction.t 

Mr. Braxton was an active member of the last House 
of Burgesses that convened under royal authority in Vir- 
ginia, and he was a member of the committee of that As- 
sembly to whom was referred the difficulty that existed 
between it and Governor Dunmore. It was while this 
committee was in conference, that the tumult above al- 
luded to, and the abdication of the governor, took place, 
and this, of course, rendered further action quite unne- 
cessary ; for the governor refused to return to his palace, 
and the legislature, of course, would not go on board the 
vessel to meet him. By this abdication all power reverted 
to the people, and a Provincial Government was at once 
formed by a convention of the inhabitants, in which move- 
ment Mr. Braxton took a conspicuous part, and was chosen 
a representative in the newly formed Assembly. 

In December, 1775, he was chosen a delegate to the 
Continental Congress to fill the vacancy o'ccasioned by the 
death of Peyton Randolph. He took an active part in 
favor of independence, and voted for and signed the 

* Patrick Henry put himself at the head of a military company, and marched 
toward Williamsburg, to demand from Lord Dunmore the return of the powder 
His company rapidly augmented in numbers as he approached the town, and he 
entered it at the head of an overwhelming force. The governor, finding resistance 
vain, finally agreed to pay for the powder, and was then allowed quietly to retire 
with his family on board the ship-of-war in the river. 

t The captain of the Fowey had declared his intention to fire upon and destroy 
the town, if the governor should experience any personal violence, and he placed 
the broadsid" of his ressel parallel with the shore, and shotted his guns for the 
purpose. 



200 vmorNJA. 

Declaration. He remained in Congress during only one 
session, and then resumed his seat in the Virginia Legisla- 
ture, where he continued with but little interruption, until 
1785. In 1786, he was appointed a member of the coun- 
cil of the State, and held that station until 1791. He was 
elected to the same office in 1794, where he continued 
until within four days of his death. This event, which 
was occasioned by paralysis, occurred on the tenth day 
of October, 1797, when he was in the sixty-first year of 
his age. 

Mr. Braxton was not a brilliant man, but he was a tal- 
ented and very useful one. He possessed a highly cul 
tivated mind, and an imagination of peculiar warmth and 
vigor, yet the crowning attribute of his character, was 
sound judgment and remarkable prudence and fore- 
thought. These, in a movement like the American Revo- 
lution, were essential elements in the characters of those 
who were the prominent actors, and well was it for them 
and for posterity, that a large proportion of not only the 
Signers to the Declaration of Independence, but those 
who were called to act in the councils of the nation, pos- 
sessed these requisites to a remarkable degree. While 
fiery spirits were needed to arouse, and bold, energetic 
men were necessary to control and guide, the success of 
that rebellion, so far as human ken can penetrate, de- 
pended upon the calm judgment and well directed pru- 
dence of a great body of the patriots. 

Of this class Mr. Braxton was a prominent one. His 
oratory, though not brilliant, was graceful and flowing, 
and it was persuasive in the Jiighest degree. He always 
fixed the attention of his auditors and seldom failed to 
convince and lead them. In public, as well as, in private 
life, his virtue and morality were above reproach, and as 
a public benefactor, his death was widely lamented 





-Li ilm Hooper was born in Boston, 
i* i dssachusetts, on the seventeenth day 
<jf June, 1742. His father was a 
Scotchman and a graduate of the 
University of Edinburgh. Soon after 
leaving that insfr ation, he emigrated to America, and fixed 
nis residence al cJoston, where he was married. William 
was his first bo ^n, and he paid particular attention to hia 
preparation for a collegiate course. He was placed un- 
der the charge of Mr. Lovell, then one of the most emi- 
nent instrurtor-s in the^colony of Massachusetts Bay 

201 



202 NORTH CAROLINA. 

Having completed his preparatory studies, William was 
entered a pupil at Harvard University, where he remained 
a close and industrious student for three years, and in 
1760 he graduated with distinguished honors. 

His father designed him for the clerical profession, 
but as he evinced a decided preference for the bar, 
he was placed as a student in the office of the cele- 
brated James Otis. On the completion of his studies, 
perceiving that the profession was quite full of practicians 
in Massachusetts, he went to North Carolina, where 
many of his Scotch relations resided, and began business 
in that province in 1767. 

Mr. Hooper formed a circle of very polished acquain- 
tances there, and he soon became highly esteemed among 
the literary men of the province. He rose rapidly 
in his profession, and in a very short time he stood at 
the head of the bar in that region. He was greatly 
esteemed by the officers of the government, and his suc- 
cess in the management of several causes, in which the 
government was his client, gave him much influence. 

When, in ±770-'71, an insurrectionary movement wa. 
6et on foot \)j a party of the people termed the " Regula 
tors,"* Mr. Hooper took sides with the government, and 

* This movement of the " Regulators" has been viewed in quite opposing lights ; 
one party regarding them as only a knot of low-minded malcontents, who had 
everything to gain and nothing to lose, and who hoped by getting up an excite- 
ment, to secure something for themselves in the general scramble. This was the 
phase in which they appeared to Mr. Hooper, and thus regarding them, he felt it 
his duty to oppose them and maintain good order in the State. Others viewed 
them as patriots, impelled to action by a strong sense of wrong and injustice, the 
author of which was Governor Try on, whose oppressive and cruel acts, even hi« 
partisans cot if 1 ,/nt deny. From all the lights we have upon the subject, we can- 
not but view tn* movement as a truly patriotic one, and kindred to those which 
subsequently took place in Massachusetts and Virginia, when Boston harbor was 
made a teapot, and Patrick Henry drove the royal governor Dunmore from the 
Province of Virginia. Governor Tryon was a tyrant of the darkest hue, for he 
commingled, with his oppressions, acts of the grossest immorality and wanton cru- 
elty. Although the "Regulators" were men moving in the common walks of life, 
'and doubtless many vagabonds enrolled themselves among them), yet the rule* 





WILLIAM HOOPER. 203 

advised and assisted Governor Tryon in all his measures 
to suppress the rebellion For this, he was branded as» a 
royalist, and even when he openly advocated the cause of 
the patriots, he was for a time viewed with some sus- 
picion lest his professions were unreal. But those who 
knew him best, knew well how strongly and purely burned 
mat flame of patriotism which his zealous instructor, Mr. 
Otis, had lighted in his bosom ; and his consistent course 
in public life, attested his sincerity. 

Mr. Hooper began his legislative labors in 1773, when 
he was elected a member of the Provincial Assembly of 
North Carolina, for the town of Wilmington. The next 
year he was returned a member for the county of Hano- 
ver ; and from his first entrance into public life, he sympa- 
thised with the oppressed. This sympathy led him early 
to oppose the court party in the state, and so vigorous 
was his opposition that he was soon designated by the 
royalists as the leader of their enemies, and became very 
obnoxious to them. The proposition of Massachusetts for 
a General Congress was hailed with joy in North Caro- 
lina, and a convention of the people was called in the sum- 
mer of 1774, to take the matter into consideration. The 
convention met in Newbern, and after passing resolutions 
approving of the call, they appointed William Hooper 
their first delegate to the Continental Congress. Although 
younger than a large majority of the members, he was 
placed upon two of the most important committees in that 
body, whose business it was to arrange and propose mea- 
sures for action — a duty which required talents and judg- 
ment of the highest order. 

Mr. Hooper was again elected to Congress in 1775, 
and was chairman of the committee which drew up an 

of government they adopted, the professions they made and the practices they 
exhibited, all bear the impress of genuine patriotism ; and we cannot but regard 
the blood shed on the occasion by the infamous Tryon, as the blood of the earl* 
martyn of our Revolution. 



804 NORTH CAROLINA. 

address to the Assembly of the island of Jamaica. This 
address was from his pen, and was a clear and able expo- 
sition of the existing difficulties between Great Britain 
and her American Colonies. He was again returned a 
member in 1776,* and was in his seat in time to vote for 
the Declaration of Independence. He affixed his signa- 
ture to it, on the second of August following. He* 
was actively engaged in Congress until JVtarch, 1777, 
when the derangment of his private affairs, and the safety 
of his family, caused him to ask for and obtain leave of 
absence, and he returned home. 

Like all the others who signed the Declaration of In- 
dependence, Mr. Hooper was peculiarly obnoxious to the 
British, and on all occasions, they used every means in 
their power to possess his person, harass his family, and 
destroy his estate. When the storm of the Revolution 
subsided, and the sun-light of peace beamed forth, he re- 
sumed the practice of his profession, and did not again 
appear in public life until 1786, when he was appointed 
by Congress one of the judges of the federal court es- 
tablished to adjudicate in the matter of a dispute about 
territorial jurisdiction, between Massachusetts and New 
York. The cause was finally settled by commissioners, 
and not brought before that court at all. 

Mr. Hooper now withdrew from public life, for he felt 
that a fatal disease was upon him. He died at Hillsbo 
rough, in October, 1790, aged forty-eight years. 

* He was at home for some time during the spring of that year, attending tw© 
different Conventions that met in North Carolina, one at Hillsborough, the seat oi 
the Provincial Congress, the other at Halifax. The Convention at the former place 
put forth an address to the people of Great Britain. This address was written by 
Mr. Hooper ; and we take occasion here to remark, that as early as the twentieth ot 
May,17?5, a convention of the Committees of Safety of North Carolina met at Char- 
lotte Court House, in Mecklenburg county, and by a series of resolutions, declared 
themselves free and Independent of the British Crown ; to the support of which 
they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. For an account of 
this Mecklenburg Convention we refer the reader to a work of the writer en- 
titled " 1776, or the War of Independence," page ]55. 




he parents of Joseph Hewes were na 
itives of Connecticut, and belonged to 
ithe Society of Friends, or Quakers. 
Immediately after their marriage they 
moved to New Jersey, and purchased 
a small farm at Kingston, within a short 
distance of Princeton. It was there 
that Joseph was bora, in the year 1730. He was edu- 
cated at the college in Princeton, and at the close of his 
studies he was apprenticed to a merchant in Philadelphia 
to qualify him for a commercial life. On the tei-min^K)* 

205 




206 NORTH CAROLINA. 

of his apprenticeship, his father furnished him with a little 
money capital, to which he added the less fleeting capital 
of a good reputation, and he commenced mercantile busi- 
ness on his own account. His business education had 
been thorough, and he pursued the labors of commerce 
with such skill and success, that in a few years he amassed 
an ample fortune. 

At the age of thirty years, Mr. Hewes moved to North 
Carolina, and settled in Edenton, which became his home 
for life. He entered into business there, and his upright- 
ness and honorable dealings soon won for him the pro- 
found esteem of the people. While yet a comparative 
stranger among them, they evinced their appreciation of 
his character, by electing him a member of the legislature 
of North Carolina, in 1763, and so faithfully did he dis- 
charge his duties, that they re-elected him several consecu- 
tive years. 

Mr. Hewes was among the earliest of the decided pa- 
triots of North Carolina, and used his influence in bring- 
ing about a Convention of the people of the State, to sec- 
ond the call of Massachusetts for a General Congress. 
The convention that met in the summer of 1774, elected 
him one of the delegates for that State, in the Continental 
Congress that met at Philadelphia in September follow- 
ing. He took his seat on the fourteenth of the month, 
and was immediately placed upon the committee appointed 
to draw up a Declaration of Rights. During that session 
he was actively engaged in maturing a plan for a general 
non-importation agreement throughout the Colonies, and 
he voted for and signed it. In this act his devoted patri- 
otism was manifest, for it struck a deadly blow at the 
business in which he was engaged. It was a great sacri- 
fice for him to make, yet he cheerfully laid it upon the 
altar of Freedom. 

Mr. Hewes was again elected a delegate to Congress in 



JOSEPH HEWES. 207 

1775, and took his seat at the opening, on the tenth of 
May. He seld im engaged in debate, but as an unwearied 
committee-man, he performed signal service there. He 
was at the head of the naval committee, and was in ef- 
fect the first Secretary of the Navy of the United States. 
He was also a member of the " Secret Committee," to 
which we have before alluded in these memoirs. 

Mr. Hewes was a member of Congress for 1776, and 
North Carolina having early taken a decided stand in fa- 
vor of independence, his own views upon this question 
were fully sustained by his instructions, and he voted for, 
and signed the Declaration thereof. As soon, thereafter 
as the business of the session would admit, he returned 
home, for the troubles there demanded his presence, and 
his private affairs needed .his attention to save his fortune 
from being scattered to the winds. He remained at 
home until July, 1779, when he resumed his seat in Con- 
gress. But his constitution, naturally weak, could not sup- 
port the arduous labors of his station, and his health failed 
so rapidly, that he was obliged to resign his seat. He 
left it on the twenty -ninth of October, 1779, and being 
too unwell to travel, he remained in Philadelphia. But 
he only lived eleven days after he left his seat in Con- 
gress. He died on the tenth of November following, in 
the fiftieth year of his age. He was the first and only 
one of all the signers of the Declaration, who died at the 
seat of Government, while attending to public duty, and 
his remains wers followed to the grave by Congress in a 
body and a largf f concourse of the citizens of Philadelphia. 





ohn Penn was born in the county of 
Carolina, Virginia, on the seventeenth 
of May, 1741. His father, Moses Penn, 
seemed to be utterly neglectful of the 
intellectual cultivation of his son ; and, 
^ although he possessed the means of giv- 
ing him a good English education, he allowed him no 
other opportunity, than that which two or three years' tu- 
ition in a common county school in his neighborhood af- 
forded. Mr. Penn died when his son was about eighteen 
years of age, and left him the sole possessor of a compe- 
tent, though not large estate. 

It has been justly remarked, that the comparative ob- 
scurity in which the youth of Penn was passed, was, un- 
der the circumstances, a fortunate thing for him, for he had 
formed no associates with the gay and thoughtless, which, 
on his becoming sole master of an estate, would have led 
him into scenes of vice and dissipation, that might have 
proved his ruin. His mind, likewise, was possessed of 
much vigor, and he was naturally inclined to pursue an 
honorable and virtuous course. 

Young Penn was a relative of the celebrated Edmund 
Pendleton, and resided near him. That gentleman kindly 
gave him the free use of his extensive library, and this 
opportunity for acquiring knowledge was industriously 
improved. He resolved to qualify himself for the pro- 
fession o the law, and strong in his faith that he should 
be successful, he entered upon a course of legal study, 
guided and instructed Dnly by his own judgment and 
good common sense. He succeeded admirably, and at 
the age of twenty-one years, he was admitted to the bar 

208 



JOHN PENN. 209 

in his native county. His profession soon developed a 
native eloquence before inert and unsuspected, and by it, 
in connection with close application to business, he rapidly 
soared to eminence. His eloquence was of that sweet 
persuasive kind, which excites all the tender emotions 
of the soul, and possesses a controlling power at times 
irresistible. 

In 1774 Mr. Penn moved to North Carolina, and com- 
menced the practice of his profession there. So soon did 
his eminent abilities and decided patriotism become 
known there, that in 1775 he was elected a delegate from 
that state to the Continental Congress, and he took his 
seat in that body, in October of that year. He remained 
there three successive years, and faithfully discharged the 
duties of his high station. Acting in accordance with the 
instruction of his state convention, and the dictates of his 
own judgment and feelings, he voted for the Declaration 
of Independence, and joyfully placed his sign manual to 
the parchment. 

When, in 1780, Cornwallis commenced his victorious 
march northward from Camden, in South Carolina,* the 
the western portion of North Carolina, which lay in his 
path, was almost defenceless. Mr. Penn was a resident 
of that portion of the State, and the legislature, unable to 
act efficiently inks collective capacity, conferred upon him 
almost absolute dictatorial powers, and allowed him to 
take such measures for the defence of the state, as the 

* After the defeat of the Americans under General Gates, at Sanders' Creek, 
near Camden, Lord Cornwallis left Colonel Ferguson to keep the Americans in 
South Carolina at bay, and at once proceeded northward with the intention of 
invading Virginia. He had made arrangements for General Leslie to reinforce 
him in that State, by landing somewhere upon the shore of the Chesapeake. But 
while pursuing bis march northward, and greatly harassed by bands of patriots, 
who had been set in motion by the active energies of Penn, he heard of the 
defeat and death of Colonel Ferguson at King's Mountain, and he hastened back 
to South Carolina. »nd thus almost defenceless Virginia wa9 saved from a deatruc 
tive invasion. 

14 



210 NORTH CAROLINA. 

exigency of the case required. This was an extraordi- 
nary evidence of great public confidence, but in no parti- 
cular did he abuse the power thus conferred. He per 
formed his duties with admirable fidelity and skill and 
received the thanks of the Legislature, and the general 
benedictions of the people. 

Mr. Penn retired from public life in 1781, and resumed 
the practice of his profession. But he was again called 
out in 1784, when Robert Morris, the Treasurer of the 
Confederation, appointed him a Sub-Treasurer, or receiv- 
er of taxes for North Carolina. It was an office of honor 
and great trust, but unpopular in the extreme. Still he 
was willing to serve his country in any honorable capa- 
city where he could be useful, but he soon found that he 
would do but little that could in anywise conduce to the 
public weal, and after holding the office a few weeks, 
he resigned it, and resumed his private business. He did 
not again appear in public life, and in September, 1788, 
he died in the forty-seventh year of his age. 

The life of John Penn furnishes another example of 
the high attainments which may crown him who, though 
surrounded by adverse circumstances, by persevering 
industry cultivates mind and heart, and aims at an ex- 
alted mark of distinction. If young men would, like 
him, resolve to rise above the hindrance of adverse cir- 
cumstances and push boldly on toward some honorable 
goal, they would seldom fail to reach it, and the race 
would be found to 1 3 far easier than they imagined it tc 
oe, when girding foi its triaL 




dward Rutledge was of Irish de- 
scent. His father, Doctor John Rut- 
| ledge, emigrated from Ireland to 
America, in 1735, and settled, at 
Charleston, South Carolina. He 
I there commenced practice as a phy- 
sician, in which he was very suc- 
the course of a few years, he married a 
youn^'lady by the name of Hert, who brought him, as a 
marriage dowry, an ample fortune. When she wa* 

<c 1 1 




cessftJ, and in 



212 SOUTH CAROLINA. 

twenty-seven years of age, Dr. Rutledge died, and left 
her with a family of seven children, of whom Edward, 
the subject of this memoir, was the youngest. He was 
born at Charleston, in November, 1749. 

After receiving a good English and classical educ&rion, 
young Rutledge commenced the study of law with his 
elder brother, John, who was then a distinguished mem- 
ber of the Charleston bar. As a finishing stroke in his 
legal education, preparatory to his admission to the bar, 
he was sent to England at the age of twenty, and entered 
as a student at the Inner Temple, London,* where he 
had an opportunity of witnessing the forensic eloquence 
of those master spirits of the times, Mansfield, Wedder- 
burn, Thurlow, Dunning, Chatham and Camden. He 
returned to Charleston about the close of 1772, was ad- 
mitted to the bar, and commenced practice early in 1773. 

Mr. Rutledge, though young, had watched with much 
interest the political movements of the day, and when old 
enough to act as well as think, he took a decisive stand 
on the side of the patriots. This, together with the dis- 
tinguished talents which he manifested on his first appear- 
ance at the bar, drew toward him the attention of the 
public mind, when the Massachusetts Circular aroused 
the people to vigorous action. Although then only 
twenty-five years of age, the convention of South Caro- 
lina elected him a delegate to the first General Congress, 
and he was present at the opening, on the fifth of Sep- 
tember, 1774. There he was active and fearless, and re- 
ceiving the entire approbation of his constituents, he was 
re-elected in 1775, and 1776 : and when, preparatory to 

* A number of Inns of Court, or sort of colleges for teaching the law were es- 
tablished in London at various times. The Temple (of which there were threa 
Societies, namely, the Inner, the Middle, and the Outer) was originally founded, 
and the Temple Church built, by the Knights Templar, in the reign of Henry II 
1185. The Inner and Middle Temple were made Inns of Law In the reign o'Ed- 
ward III., about 1340 ; the Outer, not until the reign of Elizabeth, about 1560 
See Stowe's Survey. * 



EDWARD RUTLEDGE. 213 

the coruideration of the subject of absolute independence, 
Congress, by resolution, recommended the several colo- 
nies to form permanent governments, Mr. Rutledge was 
associated with Richard Henry Lee and John Adams, 
in preparing the prefatory preamble to the recommenda- 
tion. He was warmly in favor of independence, and 
fearlessly voted for the Declaration, notwithstanding there 
were large numbers of people in his State opposed to it, 
some through timidity, some through self-interest, and 
some through decided attachment to the royal cause. 

When, during the summer of 1776, Lord Howe, came 
commissioned to prosecute the war or negotiate for 
peace, Mr. Rutledge was appointed one of a committee 
with Dr. Franklin and John Adams, to meet him in 
conference upon Staten Island. The commissioners 
were instructed not to enter upon negotiations for peace, 
except in the capacity of representatives of free states, 
and having independence as a basis. As Lord Howe 
could not thus receive them, or listen to such proposals, 
the conference, as was anticipated, failed to produce any 
important results. 

Partly on account of ill health, and partly because of 
the disturbed condition of his State, he withdrew from 
Congress in 1777, but was returned again in 1779. In 
the interval he was actively engaged at home in measures 
for the defence of the State, and to repel invasion. 

-Mr. Rutledge took up arms and was placed at the 
head of a corps of artillery. In 1780, while Charleston 
was invested by the enemy, he was active in affording 
succor to General Lincoln, then within the besieged city. 
In one of these operations, in attempting to throw troops 
into the city, he was taken prisoner, and was afterward 
sent captive to St. Augustine in Florida.* He remained 

* After the fall of Charleston, and the capture of Lincoln and the American 
•nny, Cornwallia became fearful of the influence of many citizens, and finally 



214 SOUTH CAROLINA. 

a prisoner nearly a year, and was then exchanged and 
set at liberty. It was a gloomy time for the patriots, and 
the stoutest hearts began to quail. The bulk of the 
southern army, under Lincoln, had been made prisoners. 
But still hope did not quite expire, and the successes of 
Greene, and the victories of Marion and Sumpter, reani- 
mated the fainting hearts of the republicans. 

After the British evacuated Charleston in 1781, Mr. 
Rutledge retired, and resumed the practice of his profes 
sion ; and for about seventeen years, his time was alter- 
nately employed in the duties of his business and service 
in the Legislature of his State. In the latter capacity 
he uniformly opposed every proposition for extending the 
evils of slavery-* 

In 1794, Mr. Rutledge was elected to the United States 
Senate, to supply the vacancy caused by the resignation 
of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney; and in 1798, he was 
elected Governor of his native State. But he did not 
live to serve out his official term. He had suffered much 
from hereditary gout, and on returning to Charleston 
after the adjournment of the Legislature, which sat at 
Columbia, he caught a severe cold, that brought on a 
paroxysm of his disease and terminated his life on the 
twenty-third day of January, in the year 1800. He was 
in the sixtieth year of his age. 

adopted a most cowardly measure. By his order, the Lieutenant Governor, 
(Gadsden,) most of the civil and military officers, and some others of the friends 
of the republicans, of character, were taken out of their beds and houses by armed 
parties, and collected at tne Exchange, when they were conveyed on board a 
guard-ship, and transported to St. Augustine. Mr. Rutledge was one of the num 
ber. His mother did not escape the persecutions of their masters. Cornwallis also 
feared her talents and influence, and compelled her to leave her country residence 
and move into the city, where she would be more directly under the vigilant eye 
of hie minions. 

* As a means of relief to those- who, during the war, had lost a great many 
slaves, and were pressed for pay^pjm^by those of whom they were purchased on 
credit, it was proposed to import a sufficient number, either from the West Indie% 
or from Africa direct, to make up the de^oiency. All such evil propositions met 
bo favor from Edward Rutledge. 




<%r$* 




homas Hayward was born in St. Luke i 
parish, South Carolina, in the year 
1746. His father, Colonel Dame Hay- 
ward was one of the wealthiest planters 
in the Province, and fully appreciating 
the advantages of education, he placed 
his son Thomas in the best classical school in that region. 
He was a thoughtful and industrious student; and so 
readily did he master the Latin, that he read with fluency 
the works of the Roman historians and poets, in that 
language. 

215 



216 SOUTH CAROLINA. 

As soon as young Hay ward had completed his prepa- 
ratory studies, he entered as a student, the law office of 
Mr. Parsons, a barrister of considerable eminence in 
South Carolina, at that time. Having accomplished his 
task well, his father sent him to England at the age of 
about twenty years, to finish his legal education there. He 
entered one of the Inns of court at the Temple, and there 
he prosecuted his studies with as much zeal as if poverty 
had been his inheritance, and the bread of his future ex- 
istence depended upon his personal exertion when he 
should enter the profession. This zeal brought him in- 
valuable treasures in the form of a well-stored mind, and 
he left that intellectual retreat, a polished lawyer. 

While in England, Mr. Hayward, became deeply im- 
pressed with the injustice of the prevailing feeling there, 
that a colonial British subject was quite inferior (and 
should be treated as such) to the native born English- 
man. Such was the sentiment of society, and upon this 
sentiment, the government seemed to act by appointing 
to office in the colonies few but natives of the British 
Islands ; and in its carelessness of the rights and privi- 
leges of the colonists, as if they were not equally protec- 
ted by the broad aegis of the British Constitution. These 
things, even at that early age, alienated his affection from 
Jie mother country, and he returned to his native land 
with mortified feelings, and a heartfelt desire to free it 
from the bondage of trans-atlantic rule. 

Before returning to America, Mr. Hayward visited 
weveral of the states of Europe, and instead of being 
dazzled by the pomp and trappings of royalty and its 
minions, he looked upon them all as the costly and blood- 
stained fruit of wrong and oppression ; and he saw in the 
toiling, down-trodden millions of the producers, such a 
contrast to the happy laborers of his own dear land, that 
he felt an affection for his country of the tenderest nature* 



THOMAS HAYWARD, JR. 217 



and his patriotism took deep root, even while he stood 
before the throne of royal rulers. 

Soon after his return, Mr. Hayward entered upon the 
practice of his profession. He married a most amiable 
and accomplished young lady, named Matthews ; and with 
a sedateness and energy of purpose, rare at his age, he 
commenced his career of usefulness. He was among the 
earliest in South Carolina who resisted the oppressive 
measures of the Home Government, and from the pas- 
sage of the Stamp Act, until the battle of Lexington, he 
consistently and zealously promoted the patriot cause, ever 
repudiating the degrading terms of conciliation — absolute 
submission — which the British Government" demanded. 
The openness and manly frankness with which he es 
poused the patriot cause, made him a leader in the revo- 
lutionary movements in that Province, and he was placed 
in the first General Assembly, that organized after the 
abdication of the colonial governor. He was also appoint- 
ed a member of the first " Committee of Safety" there. 

In 1775, Mr. Hayward was chosen a delegate to the 
General Congress. He at first modestly declined the 
honor, but being waited upon personally by a deputation 
of the people, he complied, and took his seat early in 
1776. He warmly supported Mr. Lee's motion for ab- 
solution from British rule, when brought forward in June 
of that year, and he joyfully voted for and signed the 
Declaration of Independence. He remained in Con- 
gress until 1778, when he accepted the appointment of 
Judge of the criminal and civil courts of South Carolina. 
This acceptance and his previous offence in signing the 
Declaration, made him very obnoxious to the enemy, and 
great efforts were made, through the treacherous tories, 
to get possession of his person.* 

* The position he held was one of great danger and trial, and nothing but the 
promptings of pure patriotism could have kept him there, for his pecuniary means 



218 SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Mr. Hayward held a military commission while he 
was Judge, and he was in active service, with Edward 
Rutledge, in the skirmish with the enemy at Beaufort, 
in 17S0. In that skirmish he received a gun-shot wound, 
which scarred him for life. When, soon after, Charles- 
ton was captured by Sir Henry Clinton and Admiral 
A L'buthnot, Mr. Hayward was taken piisoner, and it was 
generally believed that he would be excluded from the 
terms of capitulation, as an arch traitor. This, however, 
was not the case, and he was sent, with Mr. Rutledge 
and others, to St. Augustine, in Florida, where he re- 
mained nearly a year.* 

On his return to South Carolina, Judge Hayward re- 
sumed his seat upon the bench, and was actively engaged 
in his judicial duties until 179S. He was a member of 
the convention of his state, which framed its constitution, 
in 1790. Having again married an amiable lady, by the 
name of Savage, he coveted the retirement and happiness 
of domestic life, from which he had been so long an ex- 
ile, and in 1799, he withdrew entirely from public life, 
and in the bosom of his family he bore the honor, which 
a nation's gratitude conferred, and there calmly awaited 
the summons for another world. His death took place 
in March, 1809, when he was sixty-three years of age. 

were such, that he might have lived at ease in the retiracy of private life. At the 
time he was appointed Judge, the enemy were in force at Charleston and vicinity. 
But this had no effect upon him, for he tried, and caused to be executed, virtually 
within sight of the British lines, several persons who were found guilty of treason 
* While confined prisoner there, a detachment of British soldiers were sent to 
hia plantation, and carried off all his slaves. They were 6ent to Jamaica, and 
eold there to the sugar planters. He recovered some of them afterward, but 
about one hundred and thirty, valued at fifty thousand dollars, were a total loss. 
In addition to thi6 loss of property, he met with another, in the meanwhile, a thou* 
Band times more afflictive and irreparable — that of the affectionat^wife of hi* 
bosom. 




homas Lynch, Junior, was born in 
Prince George's parish, upon the 
North Santee river, South Carolina, 
on the fifth day of August, 1749. 
He was a descendant of an ancient 
Austrian family, natives of the town 
_ of Lintz. A branch of the family 
moved' to England, and settled in the county of Kent. 
Thence they went to Connaught in Ireland, and it 
was from that place that the great-grandfather of 
our subject emigrated to America and settled in South 
Carolina, a short time after its first settlement He pur 
219 




220 SOUTH CAROLINA. 

chased large tracts of land, and when they fell into tha 
possession of the father of Thomas Lynch, junior, they 
possessed great value, and gave him a splendid fortune. 
He was a man of greai influence, and having early es- 
poused the cause of the colonists, he was elected a dele- 
gate to the first Continental Congress which met in Phil- 
adelphia, in 1774. He continued a member of that body 
until his death. 

Thomas Lynch, junior, was sent to England, to be edu- 
cated, at the age of thirteen years. He had previously 
received a good academical education, at Georgetown, in 
South Carolina. In England he was placed in Eton 
School, that seminary of preparation for higher instruc- 
tion, in which, for a long period, many eminent men were 
educated. After completing his preparatory studies 
there, he entered the University of Cambridge, where he 
took his degree, and he left the institution bearing the 
highest respect of the tutors, because of his studious and 
virtuous career while there. 

On leaving Cambridge, young Lynch entered upon the 
study of the law in one of the inns of the Temple, where, 
by close application, he became a finished lawyer at the 
close of his studies. He there became acquainted with 
some of the leading politicians of the day, and acquired a 
pretty thorough knowledge of the movements of the 
government. And when he heard the murmur of dis- 
content come from his native land, and listened to the 
haughty tone of British statesmen, when speaking of the 
colonies, he felt an irrepressible desire to return home. 
He obtained permission of his father, and reached South 
Carolina in 1772. He soon afterward married a beauti- 
ful young lady, named Shu brick, between whom and 
himself, a mutual attachment had existed from childhood. 
This tender relation and the possession of an ample for- 
tune, were calculated to wed him to 4ie ease and enjoy 



THOMAS LYNCH JR. 221 

ments of domestic life, but young Lynch had caught the 
spirit of his patriotic father, and he stood up, like a strong 
young oak, to breast the storm of the Revolution, then 
gathering black on every side. 

Mr. Lynch's first appearance in public life, was at a 
town meeting called in Charleston in 1773, to consider the 
injuries Great Britain was inflicting on her colonies. He 
addressed the numerous assemblage with a patriotic elo- 
quence that won their hearts, and the people at once 
looked upon him as an efficient instrument in working out 
the freedom of his country. They-elected him by acclama- 
tion to many civil offices of trust, and when the first provin- 
cial regiment was raised in South Carolina, in 1775, a cap- 
tain's commission was offered to Mr. Lynch, which he ac- 
cepted.* In company with Captain, afterward General C. 
C. Pinckney, he made a recruiting excursion into North 
Carolina, to raise the company he was to command. In 
this service he was greatly exposed to the inclemencies 
of the weather, and his health received a shock from 
which it never recovered. He raised his company and 
joined his regiment, but a few days afterward, intelligence 
reached him of the sudden and severe illness of his father 
from paialysis, at Philadelphia, and he asked permission 
to attend him. But Colonel Gadsden, absolutely refused 
to grant the request, on the ground that no private con 
sideration should interfere with public duty. But his 
filial yearnings were speedily gratified, for his father re- 
signed his seat in Congress, and his son was immediately 
elected by the Provincial Assembly to fil it. He joyfully 
accepted it, and hastened to Philadelphia, where he took 
his seat in Congress, in 1776. He supported the propo- 

* His father, then in Congress at Philadelphia, was desirous that he should enter 
the service with higher rank than captain, but young Lynch expressed his opinion 
that the commission was quite .is exalted as his experience would warrant him t» 
roceivo 



£22 SOUTIT CAROLINA. 

sition for Independence, and was one c/the signers to th« 
glorious Declaration thereof. 

Mr. Lynch did not long remain in Congress, for the 
declining health of both himself and his father caused him 
to resign his seat and return home. They travelled 
slowly until they reached Annapolis, where his father had 
another paralytic stroke, which terminated hu life. 
With a sad heart and debilitated frame, the bereaved son 
returned home. But the canker of disease was preying 
upon his vitals, and by the advice of physicians, he re- 
solved to go to the south of Europe, with the faint hope, 
that restored health might be the result. It being peril- 
ous at that time to go in an American vessel, he sailed 
for the West Indies toward the close of 1779, with the 
expectation of finding a neutral vessel there, in which to 
embark for Europe. His affectionate wife accompanied 
him, but they never reached their destination. The ves- 
sel was supposed to have foundered at sea, and all on 
board perished, for it was never heard of afterward. 

Thus, at the early age of thirty years, terminated the 
life of one of that sacred band who pledged life, fortune 
and honor, in defence of American freedom. Like a 
brilliant meteor, he beamed witli spleidor for a short 
peiiod, and suddenly va ished forever 



I, 1^^-^^ 





■^3 



rtiiur Middleton was born at Mid* 
dleton Place, the residence of his fa- 
ther, in South Carolina, in 1743. 
His father, Henry Middleton, was of 
English descent, and a wealthy plan- 
ter, and he gave his son every oppor- 
tunity for mental and moral culture which the Province 
afforded, until he arrived at a proper age to be sent to 
England for a thorough education . This, as we have 
before observed, was a prevailing custom among the men 

223 




224 SOUTH CAROLINA. 

of wealth in the southern provinces, previous to the Revo- 
lution, and their sons consequently became political and 
social leaders, on account of their superior education. 

Arthur Middleton was sent to England, when he was 
al>out twelve years of age, and was placed in a school at 
Hackney.* At fourteen he was transferred to a school 
in Westminster, where he remained four years, and then 
entered the University at Cambridge. While there, he 
shunned the society of the gay and dissipated, and became 
a very close and thoughtful student. He remained at 
Cambridge four years, and at the age of twenty-two, he 
graduated with distinguished honors. He carried with 
him, from that institution, the sincere respect and esteem 
of professors and students. 

Young Middleton remained in England some time 
after leaving Cambridge, for the twofold purpose of self- 
improvement and of forming acquaintances with the 
branch of his family that remained there. He then 
went to the continent, and for two years he travelled and 
made observations of men, and manners, and things, in 
southern Europe. He passed several months at Rome 
where his highly - cultivated mind became thoroughly 
schooled in the theory of the fine aits, and made him 
ouite proficient as a painter. 

Mr. Middleton returned to South Carolina, in 1768, 
and very soon afterward married an accomplished young 
lady, named Izard. About a year after this event, he 
took his young wife and made a second tour on the con- 
tinent of Europe, and spent some time in England. They 
returned in 1773, and, by the indulgence of his father, 
he took the family seat for his residence. There in the 
possession of wealth and every domestic enjoyment, he 
had a bright prospect of worldly happiness. But even 

• Several of the Southern members of Congress received their education at this 
school, preparatory to their entering the college a Cambridge. 



ARTHUR MIDDLETON. 225 

then the dark clouds of the Revolution were gathering, 
and in less than two years the storm burst upon the 
South, as well as all along the Atlantic sea-board, with 
great fury. Men could not remain neutral, for there Was 
no middle course, and Arthur Middleton, as well as his 
father, laid their lives and fortunes upon the altar of pa 
triotism. When the decision was made and the die was 
cast, Mr. Middleton laid aside domestic ease and entered 
at once upon active life. He was a member of one of the 
committees of safety of South Carolina, appointed by the 
Provincial Congress in 1775. In that body he was firm 
and unyielding in principle, and when, soon afterward, 
Lord William Campbell was appointed governor, and it 
was discovered that he was acting with duplicity, Mr. Mid- 
dleton laid aside all piivate feeling, and recommended 
bis immediate arrest.* This proposition was too bold tc 
meet the views of the more timid majority of the com- 
mittee, and the governor was allowed to flee from the 
State .t 

In the winter of 1776, Mr. Middleton was one of a 
committee appointed to form a government for South 
Carolina ; and early in the spring of that year he was 
elected by the Provincial Legislature, a delegate to the 
General Congress, at Philadelphia. There he was an act- 
ive promoter of the measures tending toward a sever- 
ance of the Colonies from Great Britain, and voted for 
and signed the Declaration of Independence. By this pa- 

* Lord William Campbell waa nearly related to Mr. Middleton's wife, and tho 
greatest intimacy existed between the families. But private feelings and close 
ties of relationship had no weight in the scale against Mr. Middleton's convictions 
of duty, and he was among the first to recommend meetings to destroy the power 
of the governor. 

t Had the proposition of Mr. Middleton been carried into effect, much blood- 
shed might have been saved in South Carolina, for Lord Campbell, after bis flight 
joined Sir Henry Clinton, and representing the tory interest as very powerful In 
that State, induced that coinmnuder, in connection with the fleet of Sir Peter Par- 
ker, to ravage the coa^t and make an attack upon Charleston. In that engag*. 
uvnt Lord Campbell was slain. 

15 



226 SOUTH CAROLINA. 

triotic act, he placed himself in a position to lose life and 
property, should the contest prove unsuccessful, but these 
considerations had no weight with him. 

Mr. Middleton continued a member of Congress until 
the close of 1777, when he returned to South Carolina. 
In 1778, the Assembly adopted a State Constitution, and 
Arthur Middleton was elected first governor under it. 
Doubting the legality of the proceedings of the Assembly 
in framing the constitution, he declined the acceptance of 
the appointment. 

When, in 1779, South Carolina was invaded by the 
British, Mr. Middleton's property was exposed to their 
ravages. Yet he heeded not the destruction that was 
wrought, but joining Governor Rutledge in his attempts 
to defend the State, he left his estate entirely unprotected 
and only wrote to his wife to remove with the family a 
a day's journey from the scene of strife. In this invasion 
a large portion of his immense estate was sacrificed. The 
following year, after the surrender of Charleston to the 
British, he was one of the many influential men who were 
taken prisoners and sent to St. Augustine in Florida. 
There he remained about one year, and was then sent, 
as an exchanged prisoner, to Philadelphia. He was at 
once elected by the Assembly of South Carolina, a rep- 
resentative in Congress, and he remained there until 
November, 1782, when he returned to his family. 

He was a representative in his State Legislature until 
near the close of 1787, when disease removed him from 
his sphere of usefulness. By exposure he contracted an 
intermittent" fever, which he neglected until it was too late 
to check its ravages upon his constitution. He died on 
the first day of January, 1788. He left his wife a widow 
with eight children. She lived until 1814, and had the 
satisfaction of seeing her offspring among the honored of 
the land. 



7bu#c 



C^L. 



/ 



ca(ynn ? 



^> 




S'felS/TV^^. utton Gwinnett was born in England, 
in 1732. The pecuniary means of his pa 
rents were limited, yet they managed to 
give him a good common education. He 
was apprenticed to a merchant in Bristol, 
«nd after completing his term of service, he married, and 
•ommenced business on his own account. Allured by 
the promises of wealth and distinction in America, he re- 
solved to emigrate hither, and he arrived at Charleston, 
in South Carolina, in the year 1770. There he com- 
menced mercantile business, and after pursuing it for two 
years, he sold out his stock, moved to Georgia, and pur- 
chased large tracts of land on St. Catharine's Island in 
that province. He purchased a number of slaves, and 
devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. 

Mr. Gwinnett favored the opposition of the Colonies to 
British oppression, to some degree, yet he was one of 
those cautious, doubting men at that time, who viewed 
the success of the colonies in an open rupture with the 
home government, as highly problematical. Therefore, 
when, in 1774, Georgia was solicited to unite her voice 
with the other colonies in a General Congress, Mr. Gwin- 
nett looked upon the proposition with disfavor, as one 
fraught with danger and many evils. But falling in with 
Doctor Lyman Hall, and a few other decided patriots, 
his judgment became gradually convinced that some pow- 
erful movement was necessary, and at length he came out 
before the people, as one of the warmest advocates of 
unbending resistance to the British Crown. His culti 

227 



228 GEORGIA. 

vated mind and superior talents rendered him very popu- 
lar with the people as soon as he espoused their cause, 
and every honor in their gift was speedily bestowed 
upon him. 

It was in the beginning of 1775, that Mr. Gwinneti .open- 
ly espoused the cause of the patriots, and the parish of 
St. John elected him a delegate to the Continental Con- 
gress.* In February, 1776, he was again elected a dele- 
gate to that body by the General Assembly of Georgia, 
and under their instructions, and in accordance with his 
own strong inclinations, he voted for the Declaration of 
Independence, and signed it on the second of August fol- 
lowing. He remained in Congress until 1777, when he 
was elected a member of the Convention of his State to 
form a Constitution, in accordance with the recommenda- 
tion of Congress after the Declaration of Independence 
was made, and the grand outlines of that instrument are 
attributed to Mr. Gwinnett. 

Soon after the State Convention adjourned, Mr. Bul- 
lock, the president of the council, died, and Mr. Gwinnett 
was elected to that station, then the highest office in the 
gift of the people. The civil honors, so rapidly and lav- 
ishly bestowed upon him, excited his ambition, and while 
he was a representative in Congress, he aspired to the 
possession of military honors also. He offered himself 
as a candidate for the office of Brigadier General, and his 
competitor was Colonel M'Intosh, a man highly esteemed 
for his manly bearing and courageous disposition. Mr. 
Gwinnett was defeated, and with mistaken views he looked 

» At the early stage of the controversy with Great Britain. Georgia, sparsely 
populated, seemed quite inactive, except in the district known as the parish of 
St. John. There all the patriotism of the province seemed to have been concen- 
trated. The General Assembly having refused to send delegates to the Congress 
of 1774, that parish separated from the province, and appointed a representative 
in the Continental Congress. The leaven, however, soon spread, and Georgia 
gave her vote, in 1776, for independence. 



BUTTON GWINNETT. 229 

upon his rival aa a personal enemy * A decided aliena 
tion of their former friendship took place, and the breach 
was constantly widened by the continued irritations which 
Mr. Gwinnett experienced at the hands of Colonel M'ln- 
tosh and his friends. At length he was so excited by the 
conduct of his opposers, and goaded by the thoughts of 
having his fair fame tarnished in the eyes of the commu- 
nity, from whom he had received his laurels, that he lis- 
tened to the suggestions of false honor, and challenged 
Colonel M'Intosh to single combat. They met with pis- 
tols, and at the first fire both were wounded, Mr. Gwinnett 
mortally ; and in the piime of life, at the early age of forty- 
five, his life terminated. He could well have said, in the 
"language of the lamented Hamilton, when fatally wounded 
in a duel by Aaron Burr : "I have lived like a man, but 
I die like a fool." 

Mr. Gwinnett left a wife and several children, but they 
did not long survive him. 

* As we have elsewhere remarked in the course of these memoirs, native born 
Englishmen were in the habit of regarding the colonists as inferior to themselves, 
and they were apt to assume a bearing toward them highly offensive. In some 
degree Mr. Gwinnett was obnoxious to this charge, and be looked upon his rapid 
elevation in public life, as an acknowledgment of his superiority. These feel- 
ings were too thinly covered not to be seen by the people when he was president 
of the council, and it soon engendered among the natives a jealousy thtit waa 
fully reciprocated by him. This was doubtless the prime cause of all the difficul- 
ties which surrounded him toward ixe close of hia life, and brought him to hit 
tragical death. 




yman Hall was born in Connecti- 
cut in the year 1721. His father 
was possessed of a competent for- 
tune, and he gave his son an oppor- 
tunity for acquiring a good education. 
He placed him in Yale College, at 
the age of sixteen years, whence he graduated after four 
years' study. He chose the practice of medicine as a 
profession, and he entered upon the necessary studies 
with great ardor, and pursued them witli perseverance 

230 




LYMAN HALL. 231 

As soon as Mr. Hall had completed his pr* lessional 
studies, and was admitted to practice, with the title of M. 
D., he married and emigrated to South Carolina, in 1752. 
He first settled at Dorchester, but during the year he 
moved to Sunbury, in the district of Medway in Georgia, 
whither abou 1 " forty New England families, then in South 
Carolina, accompanied him. He was very successful in 
the practice of his profession, and by his superior intelli- 
gence, probity, and consistency of character, he won the 
unbounded esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens. 

Doctor Hall was a close observer of the " signs of the 
times," and he was among the earliest of the southern 
patriots who lifted up their voices against British oppres- 
sion and misrule. The community in which he lived was 
strongly imbued with the same feeling, for the people 
brought with them from New England the cherished 
principles of the Pilgrim Fathers — principles that would 
not brook attempts to enslave, or even to destroy a single 
prerogative of the colonies. The older settlers of Geor- 
gia, many of whom were direct from Europe, had these 
principles of freedom inwoven with their character in a 
much less degree, and therefore the parish of St. John, 
wherein Doctor Hall resided, seemed, at the first cry 
of liberty, to have all the patriotism of the province cen- 
tred there. 

Early in 1774 Doctor Hall and a few kindred spirits, 
endeavored, by calling public meetings, to arouse the peo- 
ple of the province to make common cause with their 
urethren of the North, but these efforts seemed almost 
futile. Finally, a general meeting of all favorable to re- 
publicanism was called at Savannah, in July, 1774, but 
the measures adtpted there, were tempori7ang and non- 
committal in a great degree, and Doctor Hall almost des- 
paired of success in persuading Georgia to send delegates 
,o the General Congress, called to meet at Philadelphia 



232 GEORGIA. 

in September.* He returned to his constituents with a 
heavy heart, and his report filled them with disgust at the 
pusillanimity of the other representatives there. Fired 
widi zeal for the ca^se, and deeply sympathizing with 
their brother patriots of New England, the people of the 
parish of St. John resolved to act, in the matter, indepen- 
dent of the rest of the colony, and in March, 1775, they 
elected Doctor Hall a delegate to the General Congress, 
and he appeared there with his credentials on the thir- 
teenth of May, following.! Notwithstanding he was not 
an accredited delegate of a colony, Congress, by a unani- 
mous vote, admitted him to a seat.J 

During the summer, Georgia became sufficiently 
aroused to come out as a colony in favor of the republi- 
can cause, and at a convention of the people held in Sa- 
vannah, in July, five delegates to Congress were elected, 
of whom Doctor Hall was one. He presented his new 
credentials in May, 1776, and he took part in the debates 
which ensued on the motion of Mr. Lee for Indepen- 
dence. Doctor Hall warmly supported it, and voted for 
it on the fourth of July. He signed the Declaration on 
the second of August, and soon afterward returned home 
for a season. 

Doctor Hall was a member of Congress nearly all the 
while until 1780, when the invasion of his state, by the 

* Another convention of representatives of the people of the province met at 
Savannah, about six months after, but the extent of their proceedings was to 
petition Great Britain to redress the wrongs of the colonies, a petition which the 
patriots of the north knew to be as powerless to stay the oppressions of the 
Crown, as a barrier of down against a tornado. 

t The people of the parish of St. John, convinced that the rest of the province 
was too apathetic to act, appealed to the Committee of Safety of South Carolina, 
to allow them to join with them in their non-importation agreements, and other 
commercial regulations. Owing to some difference of opinion they were n >t suc- 
cessful in their application. They therefore united among themselves, established 
a non-importation association, and proceeded to elect a delegate to Congress. 

X As they sometimes voted by colonies, Congress was somewhat embarrassed 
in the case jf Mr. Hall, but his own wisdom obviated the difficulty. He proposed 
to debate, and listen too others, but not to rote when Congress voted by colonies. 



LYMAN HALL. 233 

British, called him home to look after the safety of his 
family. He arrived there in time to remove them, but 
was obliged to leave his property entirely exposed to the 
fury of the foe. He went north, and while the British 
had possession of the state, and revived royal authority in 
government there, his property was confiscated. 

He returned to Georgia, in 1782, just before the enemy 
evacuated Savannah.* The next year he was elected 
governor of the State. He held the office one term, and 
then retired from public life, and sought happiness in the 
domestic circle. But that was soon invaded by the arch- 
destroyer. His only son was cut down in the flower of 
his youth, and the father did not long survive him. He 
died in the year 1784, in the sixty-third year of his age, 
greatly beloved and widely lamented.! 

* After the capture of Cornwallis nnd his army at Yorktown,in 1781, the war 
virtually ceased. Armies were still on duty, and arrangements were made for 
regular campaigns the ensuing season ; but unimportant skirmishes in the South- 
ern States made up the bulk of actual hostilities from that time until the procla- 
mation of peace. Georgia was the only rendezvous of the remnant of the British 
at the South, in the beginning of the year 1782. In June of that year, General 
Wayne arrived there with a portion of the Pennsylvania line, and the enemy re- 
treated from all their outposts into Savannah. The State was thus evacuated, and 
republican authority was re-established. Wayne was attacked within five miles 
of Savannah, on the twenty-fourth of June, by a party of British and Indians, and 
in that skirmish Colonel John Laurens was killed. This was the last battle of the 
Revolution. Cessation of hostilities was proclaimed, and in July the British force 
evacuated Savannah, and the last hostile foot left the soil of Georgia. 

\ During the present session (1848) of the Legislature of Georgia, the sum of fit 
teen hundred dollars was appropriated for the purpose of erecting a lead monu- 
ment to the memory of Lyman Hall, and George Walton, two delegates from 
Georgia, who signed the Declaration of Independence. Their remains are to b* 
removed to Augusta, where the monument is to be reared. 




eorge Walton was descended from 
parentage quite obscure, and the glory 
that halos his name derives not a gleam 
from ancestral distinction — it is all his 
own. He was born in the county of 
Frederick, in Virginia, in the year 1740. 
His early education was extremely limi- 
ted, and at the age of fourteen years he was apprenticed 
to a carpenter. He was possessed of an inquiring mind, 
and an ardent thirst for knowledge, but his master's au- 
thority hung like a mill-stone about the neck of his a&pi- 

234 




GEORGE WALTON. 235 

rations. He was an ignorant man, and looked upon a 
studious boy as an idle one, considering the time spent in 
reading as wasted. With this feeling, he would allow 
young Walton no time to read by day, nor lights to study 
by night ; but the ardent youth overcame these difficul 
ties, and by using torch-wood for light, he spent his even- 
ings in study. Persevering in this course, he ended his 
apprenticeship with a well-stored mind. He then moved 
into the province of Georgia, and commenced the study 
of law in the office of Mr. Young, an eminent banister in 
that colony. 

Mr. Walton commenced the practice of law in the year 
1774, a time when the colonies were in a blaze respect- 
ing the various acts of the British Parliament which in- 
vaded colonial rights. But Georgia was either very apa- 
thetic or very timid, for the people, although induced by 
active patriots to meet together in convention at Savan 
nah, did not so far approve of the call for a General Con 
gress, as to appoint delegates thereto, and Georgia was 
the only colony unrepresented there. 

Soon after commencing the practice of his profession. 
Mr. Walton became acquainted with some of the leading 
patriots in that province, among whom was Dr. Hall ; and 
they found in him an apt pupil in the school of patriotism 
His law tutor was an ardent patriot also, and these influ- 
ences, combined with his own natural bias, made him es- 
pouse the republican cause with hearty zeal. He boldly 
opposed the movements of the loyalists, and soon called 
down upon his head the denunciations of the ruling pow- 
ers. He labored assiduously to have the whole province 
take the road toward freedom, which the parish of St. 
John had chosen, yet his labor seemed almost fruitless. 
But at length the fruits of the zeal of himself and others 
began to appear, and in the winter of 1776, the Assem- 
bly of Georgia declared for the patriot cause, and in Feb 



230 GEORGIA. 

ruary appointed five delegates to the Continental Con- 
gress. Of these delegates, Mr. Walton was one. 

The royal governor was so incensed at this daring and 
treasonable act of the Assembly that he threatened to use 
military force against them. But they utterly disregarded 
his authority, organized a new government, and elected 
Archibald Bullock president of the Executive Council. 

The Congress was in session at Baltimore when he ai- 
rived, having adjourned there from Philadelphia because 
of the expected attack upon that city by the British under 
Lord Cornwallis. The confidence which that body re- 
posed in him was manifested three days after his arrival, 
by his appointment upon a committee with Robert Moms 
and George Clymer, to repair to Philadelphia and act as 
circumstances might require. This was a post of great 
trust and danger, and the powers delegated to the com- 
mittee were almost unlimited ; in their keeping and dis- 
position nearly the whole of the finances of Congress were 
intrusted. This service was performed with the utmost 
fidelity. 

Mr. Walton was favorable to the proposition for inde- 
pendence, and he used all his influence to bring about 
that result. He voted for and signed the Declaration of In- 
dependence, and the fortune and honor he there pledged, 
were freely devoted to its support. He remained in Con- 
gress until near the close of 1778, when he returned home, 
having been appointed by the legislature colonel of a regi- 
ment in his State, then threatened by an invasion of the 
enemy from the sea. Colonel Walton hastened to join 
his regiment, and was there in time to enter the battalion 
of General Howe* at Savannah, when Colonel Campbell, 

* This was General Robert Howe, of the American army. There were three 
commanding officers by the name of Howe engaged in our Revolutionary war ; 
General Robert Howe, just named ; General Sir William Howe, of the British 
■rmy ; and his brother, Lord Howe, Admiral in its navy. At the time in question, 
General Robert Howe had about eight hundred men under his command, and 



GEORGE WALTON. 237 

from New York, landed there and besieged it. In that 
engagement he received a severe shot wound in his thigh, 
and he fell from his horse. In this condition he was taken 
prisoner, but was soon afterward exchanged.* 

In October, 1779, the Legislature of Georgia appointed 
Mr. Walton governor of the State. He did not hold that 
office long, for in January, 1780, he was again elected to 
a seat in Congress for two years, but in October following 
he withdrew from that body, and was again elected gov- 
ernor of his State, which office he then held a full tdrm. 
Near the close of the term, he was appointed by the Legis- 
lature, Chief Justice of the State, and he retained that 
office until his death. In 1798, he was elected a member 
of the Senate of the United States, where he remained 
one year and then retired to private life, except so far as 
his duties upon the bench required him to act in public. 
His useful life was terminated in Augusta, Georgia, on the 
second day of Februaiy, 1804, when he was in the sixty- 
fourth year of his age. 

Mr. Walton had but one child, a son, who was a great 
solace to the declining years of his father.! Judge Wal- 
ton was universally beloved by those who knew him inti- 
mately, and the carpenter's apprentice became the most 
exalted citizen of the Commonwealth in which he resided. 
Even at this late day, the remembrance of his services and 
exalted character, is fresh in the hearts of the people. 

would doubtless have maintained a successful defence of Savannah, had it not 
been for a treacherous negro, who pointed out to the enemy a path across a m> 
rassthat defended .the Americans in the rear. By this treachery the Americana 
were attacksd front and rear, and were obliged to surrender themselves prison- 
ire of war. 

* He then held the active position of major, with the rank of colonel, yet being 
t member of Congress and guilty of the great offence of having signed the DecLv 
•ation of Independence, a brigadier general was demanded in exchange for him. 
3e was finally exchanged for a naval captain. 

t When General Jackson was governor of West Florida, Judge Walton's so* 
leld the office of Secretary of State, and was regarded as one of the most < 
tie men in that territory. 




lthough Robert R. Livingston 

was not one of those who signed the 
Declaration of Independence, yet his 
name should ever be inseparably con- 
nected' with theirs, for he was one of the 
committee of the immortal Congress 
of 1776, to whom was intrusted the momentous task of 
framing that revered document. With such considera- 
tions, we have deemed it our duty to append the memoir 
of that great man, to the biographies of his colleagues i» 

238 




ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON. 239 

the National Council whence emanated that Declaratory 
Act which gave birth and freed om to a grt»at nation. 

Robert R. Livingston was of noble lineage — noble, not 
only by royal patent, but in high and virtuous deeds.* 
He was born in the city of New York, in the year 1747, 
and vas- educated at King's (now Columbia) College. 
He graduated with honor in 1764, at the age of seven- 
teen years, and then entered upon the study of the law, 
in New York, under Mr. Smith, a barrister of consider- 
able eminence there, and subsequently Chief Justice of 
Canada. He was also an historian of New York. 

Not long after obtaining his license as attorney and 
counsellor, Mr. Livingston was appointed Recorder of 
the city of New York. At that time (1771), the excite- 
ment in the colonies against the home government was 
strong and general, and he warmly espoused the patriot 
cause. His father was also an unswerving patriot, and 
because of adhesion to the " rebels " they were both ejec- 
ted from office. 

* James Livingston, about the middle of the sixteenth century, was appointed 
Regent of Scotland, during the minority of James I. A grand-daughter of this 
Livingston married Donald, king of the Hebrides. Several members of the family 
had distinct titles ; one was Earl of Newburgh, another Earl of Linlithgow, 
Bnother Earl of Callander, and another Earl of Livingstone. The latter was the 
common ancestor of the branch of the family that emigrated to America. He was 
hereditary governor of Linlithgow Castle, in which Mary, Queen of Scots, was born, 
ond his daughter was one of the four ladies who attended Mary to France, as her 
companions. The grandson of Lord Livingston, who was an eminent divine, 
emigrated to Rotterdam, in 1663, in consequence of the religious persecudons in 
Scotland, and he was one of the commissioners in the negotiations for that peace, 
which eventuated in the transfer of the colony of New York from the states ot 
Holland to England. His son Robert emigrated to America, in 1678, and in 1686 
be obtainsd a patent for the Manor of Livingston, upon the Hudson river, in Co- 
lumbia County, New York. He was afterward chiefly instrumental, in a confer- 
ence with King William and others, in causing the expedition which was fitted 
out against the pirates that infested the Ameincan coast. Captain Kidd waa 
appointed the agent in the enterprise, but through the connivance as is supposed, 
of Governor Fletcher, of New Vork, he became a greater pirate himself than those 
he came to subdue. Robert R. Livingston, the subject of this sketch, w%g tfa* 
great-grandson of Robert, the first proprietor of the Livingston manor. 



240 NEW YORK. 

In 1775, Mr. Livingston was elected a member of the 
Continental Congress, assembled in Philadelphia, where 
his activity and zeal were such that he was re-elected for 
1776.* He took part in the debates which occurred on 
the motion of Richard H^iiy Lee, of Virginia, declaring 
the United Colonies free and independent ; and he was 
placed upon the committee, which Congress appointed to 
draw up a Declaration of Independence, in conformity 
with the spirit of the revolution, and was present when 
it was adopted. 

The name of Mr. Livingston was not affixed to the 
Declaration of Independence, but in regard to the rea- 
sons why his signature was withheld, his biographers are 
silent. We venture the opinion that he regarded as cor 
rect the doctrine that the representative is bound to act 
in accordance with the expressed will of his constituents. 
At the time the Declaration was acted upon and adopted, 
the Provincial Assembly of New York still withheld all 
sanction of so strong a measure, and hence it is probable 
that Mr. Livingston did not think proper to take the re- 
sponsibility of concurring in such an important measure, 
without the sanction of his constituents. That sanction, 
however, was given on the twelfth of July by a vote of the 
Assembly then in session at White Plains, in which they 
approved of the action of Philip Livingston and others 
who were afterward signers. The question does not in 
the least affect the character of Mr. Livingston, for his 
patriotism was undoubted, and his subsequent career 
attests the firm confidence of his countrymen. 

When, after the Declaration was adopted, Congress re- 

* General Richard Montgomery married a sister of Mr. Livingston, and, toward 
the close of 1775, he commanded an expedition against Quebec. In endeavoring 
to scale the heights of Abraham near that city, he was mortally wounded by a 
eannon shot. His remains were taken to the city of New York, in 1818, and de 
posited beneath a monument placed under the portico cf St. Paul's Church, in 
that city. 



ROHKRT R. MVINGSTON. 241 

commended the several states to form constitutions for 
their governments respectively, Mr. Livingston was elect- 
ed a member of the convention of New York, assembled 
for that purpose. He served alternately in Congress 
and in the legislature of his native state from 1775 till 
1781, when, under the Articles of Confederation, he was 
appointed Secretary for Foreign Affairs, which station he 
tilled, with great industry and fidelity, until 1783. On 
retiring from the office he received the thanks of Con- 
gress. He was that year appointed Chancellor of the 
State of New York, and was the first who held the 
office under the new constitution of the State. 

Mr. Livingston was a member of the convention of 
New York which assembled at Poughkeepsie, in 1788, to 
tnke into consideration the newly formed Federal Consti- 
tution, and he was then one of its warmest advocates in 
procuring its ratification by that body. 

In April, 1789, Washington, the first President of the 
United States, was inaugurated in the city of New York. 
It was one of the most august occasions the world has 
ever witnessed, and Chancellor Livingston had the ex- 
alted honor of administering the oath of office to that 
great leader, and of witnessing before high heaven his 
solemn pledge to support the constitution. 

In 1801, Chancellor Livingston was appointed by 
President Jefferson, minister to the court of France, at 
the head of which was then the young conqueror of Italy, 
Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Repub- 
lic. He at once won the esteem and confidence of that 
great captain, and successfully negotiated with his minis- 
ters for the purchase of Louisiana, then in possession of 
France. 

The treaty was signed in April, 1802, by Mr. Living- 
ston and Mr. Monroe, on the part of the United States, 
and by the Count de Marbois in behalf of France. 
16 



242 NEW YORK. 

When it was signed, Mr. Livingston arose rrom his seat 
and with solemn and prophetic voice said, "We have 
lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives. 
The treaty which we have just signed has not been ob- 
tained by art or dictated by force ; equally advantageous 
to both contracting parties, it will change vast solitudes 
into flourishing districts. From this day the United 
States take their place among the powers of the first 
rank ; the English lose all exclusive influence in the af- 
fairs of America." Napoleon, too, spoke prophetically. 
"This accession of territory," said he, " strengthens for 
ever the power of the United States; and I have given to 
England a maritime rival, that will sooner or later hum- 
ble her pride." 

While in Europe, Chancellor Livingston indulged and 
cultivated his taste for literature and the Fine Arts ; 
and he sent to the American Academy of Fine Arts, which 
was established in New York, in 1801, a very fine col- 
lection of antique busts and statues (now in possession of 
its rival and successor, the National Academy of Design) 
and some admirable paintings. Science, too, claimed his 
attention, and the aid and encouragement which he ren- 
dered Robert Fulton in his steamboat experiments, by 
which they were made successful, form an imperishable 
monument of honor to his memory.* Agriculture was his 

\ 

* Chancellor Livingston was the only man of influence who seemed to appre- 
ciate the character of Fulton's genius, and sympathize with him in his efforts to 
render steam subservient to purposes of navigation. He warmly entered into all 
his plans, fully comprehended his theories, and was convinced at the outset of 
the practicability of the project. He had himself made many advances in the same 
road with Mr. Fulton, before he became acquainted with him. He applied to tho 
Legislature of New York, in 1798, for a special act, giving him the exclusive right 
to navigate the waters of the Hudson river with, boats "propelled by fire or steam" 
for twenty years. Dr. Samuel Mitchell, then in the House of Assembly introduced 
a bill accordingly, and it brought down upon him an avalanche of ridicule ; and 
the debates which arose upon it were amusing in the extreme. It is said that 
when any of the younger members wished to indulge in a little fun. they would 
call up Dr. Mitchell's "hot water bill," and bandy their jokes withou stint Many 



ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON. 244 

study and delight, and to him the farmers of this country 
are indebted for the introduction of gypsum or plaster, 
for manure, and the clover grass. 

Chancellor Livingston continued actively engaged in 
public life until a year or so before his death, which oc- 
curred at his country-seat at Clermont, on the twenty- 
sixth day of February, 1S13, when he was in the sixty- 
sixth year of his age. He was a prominent actor in scenes 
which present features of the most remarkable kind, as 
influencing the destinies of the world. His pen, like his 
oratory, was chaste and classical; and the latter, because 
of its purity and ease, obtained for him from the lips uf 
Doctor Franklin, the title of the " Cicero of America." 
And to all of his eminent virtues and attainments he added 
that of a sincere and devoted Christian, the crowning at- 
tribute in the character of a good and great man. 

of the older members declared that the project of propelling vessels by steam 
was too preposterous to be seriously thought of, and was unworthy of being digni- 
fied by legislative action. But an act granting the privilege was finally passed ; yet 
the experiments of Mr. Livingston were not sufficiently successful to warrant him 
to build a boat of any considerable size. For a while he abandoned the scheme, 
and itwas not until after his return from Fran e, whither Mr. Jefferson sent him 
as minister, that he resumed hie experiments. H became acquainted with Mr. Ful- 
ton in Paris, and on his return to the United States, they united their interests and 
their talents, and produced a boat, in 1807, which was propelled by steam from 
New York to Albany, at the rate of five miles an hour. 

The first trip which this boat made was one of intense interest to Fulton and his 
warm-hearted colleague, Chancellor Livingston. A few doubting friends ven 
tured on board, and when the boat left the wharf, they almost wished themselves 
again on shore, for they felt the jeers of the crowd that huzzaed for "Fulton's folly" 
as the vessel moved out into the stream. On she went some distance up the 
river and stopped ! 'Just as I expected,' was the feeling of all, and the expression 
of many. But Fulton's confidence was not shaken ; he discovered the cause and 
the boat moved on. They reached the Taappan Sea, glided through Haver- 
straw Bay, and at length entered the great amphitheatre of the Highlands at 
Caldwell's. Onward mov=d the mysterious vessel. West Point was passed, mag- 
nificent Newburgh Bay vta.3 entered, the green fields of Dutchess and Columbia, 
and the towering peaks of the Catskills were passed, and Albany was reached. 
The victory was complete — Science vindicated the claims of Genius, and a mew 
creation of the western world began. Now the fruits of that victory are seen 
world wide, and the achievements of Fulton and Livingston on that day are 
now honored as having given an alna net omnipotent sceptre to civilization. 



THE 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 

HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 



An aspiration for political independence was not a pre- 
vailing sentiment among the people of the Anglo-American 
colonies, until about the commencement of the year 1776. 
It had indeed been a favorite idea with a very few of the 
early leaders in the political movements antecedent to, and 
productive of, the War of the Revolution ; yet manifest 
expediency, and a lingering hope of obtaining justice from 
the mother country, and through it reconciliation, caused 
them to confine the audible expression of this sentiment 
to the private cir< le of ti-ied friendship. Samuel Adams, 
Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, Timothy Dwight,* 
and a few others had in< eed breathed the subject in the 
ears of their countrymer , but the idea met with little fa- 
vor, even among the most ardent patriots. 

* "In the month of July, 1775," says Timothy Dwight, " I urged, in conversa- 
tion, with several gentlemen of great respectability, firm whigs, and my intimate 
friends, the importance and even the necessity of a deqla r Htion of independence 
on the part of the colonies, and alleged for this measure, tl i very same arguments 
which afterward were generally considered as decisis ; but found them dis- 
posed to give me and my arguments, a hostile and contemptuous, instead of a 
cordial reception. Yet, at his time, all the resentment anil enthusiasm awakened 
by the odious measures of Parliament, by the peculiarly obnoxious conduct ot 
the British agents in this country, and by the recent battles of Lexington and 
Breed's Hill, were at the highest pitch. These gentlemen may be considered as 
representatives of the great body of the thinking men in this country. A few 
may, perhaps, be excepted, but none of these durst at that time openly declare 
their opinions to the public. For myself, I regarded the die as cast, and the hopes 
of reconciliation as vanished ; and believed that the colonists would never be 
able to defend themselves unless they renounced their dependence on Great 
Britain." — DtoigMs Travels t» New England, vol. i., p. 159. 

244 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 24£ 

There were some who, from the first, seemed to have 
a presentiment that reconciliation was out of the question. 
Among these was Patrick Henry. As early as 1773, 
he uttered the following prediction. Speaking of Great 
Britain, he said, " She will drive us to extremities ; no 
accommodation will take place ; hostilities will soon com- 
mence ; and a desperate and bloody touch it will oe." 
This, Mr. Wirt asserts, was said in the presence of Colo- 
nel Samuel Overton, who at once asked Mr. Henry if he 
thought the Colonies sufficiently strong to oppose success- 
fully, the fleets and armies of Great Britain % "I will be 
candid with you," replied Mr. Henry, " I doubt whether 
we shall be able, alone, to cope with so powerful a nation ; 
but," continued he, rising from his chair with great anima- 
tion, " where is France ! — where is Spain ! — where is 
Holland — the natural enemies of Great Britain 1 Where 
will they be all this while 1 Do you suppose they will 
stand by, idle and indifferent spectators to the contest ? 
Will Louis XVI. be asleep all this time % Believe me, 
no ! When Louis XVI. shall be satisfied by our serious 
opposition, and our Declaration of Independence, that all 
prospect of a reconciliation is gone, then, and not till then, 
will he furnish us with arms, ammunition and clothing; 
and not with them only, but he will send his fleets and ar- 
mies to fight our battles for us ; he will form a treaty with 
us, offensive and defensive, against our unnatural mother. 
Spain and Holland will join the confederation ! Our inde- 
pendence will be established ! and we shall take our stand 
among the nations of the earth!" How literally these 
predictions were soon fulfilled, the pen of Histoiy has 
already recorded. 

But the pride of political birth-right, as a child of Great 
Britain, kept actively alive a loyal spirit ; and a separation 
from the British empire was a proposition too startling 
to be readily embraced, or even favorably received, by 



246 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

the great mass of the people, who regarded ' Old England" 
with filial reverence. Great Britain, the revered parent, 
and America, the dutiful child, had long been bound to- 
gether by interest, by sameness of habits, manners, reli- 
gion, laws and government. The recollection of their 
original consanguinity had always been cherished with an 
amiable sensibility, or a kind of mechanic enthusiasm that 
promoted mutual felicity when they met on each other's 
shores, or in distant lands saluted each other with the same 
language. * 

When intelligence reached America that the King had 
declared the colonists rebels — that thousands of German 
troops had been engaged by Parliament to come hither 
to assist in the work of subjugating a people struggling 
for right and justice — and that the British government 
was collecting all its mighty energies, for the purpose of 
striking a blow of such intensity as to scatter into frag- 
ments every vestige of the rightful claims of the colonists, 
to enjoy the prerogatives granted to them by Magna Char- 
ta, a deep and solemn conviction seized the minds of the 
people, that the last ray of hope of reconciliation had fa- 
ded away, and that unbending resistance or absolute sla- 
very was the only alternative left them. The bonds of 
filial affection were rudely severed by the unnatural parent, 
and the deserted and outlawed children were driven by 
necessity to seek shelter beneath a palladium of their own 
construction. 

During the winter of 1776, the ablest persons in Ameri- 
ca were busy in the preparation of pamphlets and essays 
for gazettes, all filled with arguments to prove the neces- 
lity of a close union of the colonies to meet the threat- 
ened blow, and the paramount necessity of making the 
rallying cry " Independence or Slavery." 

* Mrs. Warren's " Rise and Progress of the American Revolution." — vol. .i p 



HIST'HUC W-I.Y CONMUKRED. 247 

Among the former, one entitled Common Sense, w ritten 
by Thomas Paine, produced a powerful effect upon the 
people, and awakened in the hearts of thousands a long- 
ing for independence, where, before, loyalty to the British 
crown was a cherished principle. In all the colonies, 
men of the highest rank and influence boldly avowed 
their sentiments in favor of independence. Nor was the 
pen alone the asserter and vindicator of this sentiment, 
but in various ways, distinguished men presented the sub- 
ject in all its bearings before the people. The course of 
William Henry Drayton, Chief Justice of South Carolina, 
may be cited as one of many ways in which, not only per- 
sonal influence, but official station, was brought to bear 
upon the minds and hearts of the people, in favor of inde- 
pendence. In his charge to the grand jurors, in April, 1776, 
he proceeded to vindicate the course that had been pursued 
by the colonies in forming new governments, and then 
added, " I think it my duty to declare, in the awful seat 
of justice, and before Almighty God, that in my opinion, 
the Americans can have no safety, but by divine favor, 
their own virtues, and their being so prudent, as not to 
leave it in the power of British rulers to injure them. In- 
deed, the ruinous and deadly injuries received on our side, 
and the jealousies entertained, and which in the nature of 
things must daily increase against, us, on the other, demon- 
strate to a mind the least given to reflection, that true recon- 
cilement can never exist between Great Britain and America 

the latter being subject to the former The Almighty 

created America to be independent of Great Britain : let 
us beware of the impiety of being backward to act as in- 
struments in the Almighty hand, now extended to accom- 
plish his purpose, and by the completion of which, alone, 
America, in the nature of human affairs, can be secure 
against the crafty and insidious designs of her enemies, 
who think her favor and prosperity already by far too 



248 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPEiNDENCE 

great. In a word, our piety and political safety are so 
bletded, that to refuse our labor in this divine work, is to 
refuse to be a great, a free, a pious and a happy people."* 

When the minds of the people seemed to be sufficiently 
prepared to receive the novel idea of independence of the 
British Crown, the colonial assemblies began to move in 
the matter. North Carolina was the first to take the bold, 
progressive step. On the twenty-second of April, 1776, 
the convention of North Carolina empowered their dele- 
gates in the General Congress " to concur with those in 
the other colonies in declaring independence." 

On the tenth of May, the general assembly of Massa- 
chusetts requested the people of that colony, at the then 
approaching election of new representatives, to give 
them instructions on the subject of independence.! On 
the twenty-third of May, the people of Boston, pursuant 
to this request, instructed their representatives to use 
their best endeavors to have their delegates in Congress 
" advised, that in case Congress should think it necessary, 
for the safety of the united colonies, to declare them- 
selves independent of Great Britain, the inhabitants of 
that colony, with their lives, and the remnants of their 
fortunes, would most cheerfully support them in the 
measure." 

On the seventeenth of May, the convention of Vir- 
ginia unanimously resolved, "that the delegates appointed 
to represent this colony in the General Congress, be in- 
structed to propose to that respectable body to declare 
the united colonies free and independent states, absolved 



* In the charge, from which we make this extract, Chief Justice Drayton ably 
descanted upon the various oppressive acts of the British Government, and drew 
admirable parallels between the causes which led to the revolution in England 
in 1688, and those which caused the revolution in America then in progress. He 
placed James II. on one side, and George III. on the other, and showed clearly 
that the acts of the latter were more criminal than those of the former. 

J Bradford, vol. ii., p . 104 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 249 

from all allegiance to, or dependence upon, the Crown 01 
Parliament of Great Britain ; and to support whatevei 
measures may be thought proper and necessary by the 
Congress for forming foreign alliances, and a confedera- 
tion of the colonies, at such time, and in such manner, as 
to them may seem best — provided, that the power of 
forming governments for, and the regulation of the inter- 
nal concern of each colony, be left to the respective co- 
lonial legislatures."* 

The assembly of Rhode Island, during its session in 
May, directed the oath of allegiance, thereafter, „o be 
taken to the colony, instead of to the King of Great 
Britain. They also instructed their delegates to join with 
the other colonies " upon the most proper measures for 
promoting and confirming the strictest union and con- 
federation, between the colonies, for exerting their whole 
strength and force to annoy the common enemy, and to 
secure to the said colonies their rights and liberties, both 
civil and religious ; whether by entering into treaties with 
any prince, state, or potentate ; or by such other prudent 
and effectual ways and means as should be devised and 
agreed upon ; and in conjunction with the delegates from 
the united colonies, to enter upon, and attempt, all such 
measures, taking the greatest care to secure to this colo- 
ny, in the most perfect manner, its present forms, and all 
the power of government, so far as relates to its internal 
police, and conduct of affairs, civil and religious." t 

On the eighth of June, the delegates from New York 
wrote to the convention of that colony, asking their advice 
on the question of independence, then agitated in Con 
gross. The convention did not feel themselves authorized 

* After the adoption of this resolution, the convention proceeded to the establish- 
ment of a regular independent government, a course which Congresa shoxtlj 
afterward recommended to all the states. 

■ Records of the assembly of Rhode Island, 



£50 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

to advise their delegates to declare that colony inde« 
pendent, but recommended, by resolution, that the peo- 
ple, who were about to elect new representatives, should 
give instructions on the subject.* 

On the fourteenth of June, a special assembly was 
called in Connecticut, and a resolution was adopted, by 
a, unanimous vote, instructing the delegates of that colony, 
in the General Congress, to " give their assent to a de- 
claration of independence, and to unite in measures for 
forming foreign alliances, and promoting a plan of union 
among the colonies. "t 

On the fifteenth of June, the representatives of New 
Hampshire unanimously instructed their delegates to join 
the other colonies in this question .| 

On the twenty-first of the same month, new delegates 
to the Continental Congress were elected by the conven- 
tion of New Jersey, and they were instructed, "in case 
they judged it necessary and expedient for supporting 
the just rights of America, to join in declaring the united 
colonies independent, and entering into a confederation 
for union and defence." 

The assembly of Pennsylvania, held in June, removed 
the restrictions laid upon their delegates by instructions 
in November preceding ; but they neither instructed 
them, nor gave them leave, to concur with the other colo- 
nies in a declaration of independence. The convention 
of Maryland positively forbade, by a resolution passed 
about the last of May, their delegates voting for inde- 
pendence. Georgia and Delaware left their representa- 
tives free to act without any instructions or restrictions, 

* Records of the convention of New York. 

t The convention of that special session issued a proclamation, in which it was 
recommended "to all persons of every rank and denomination to furnish them' 
eelves, with all possible expedition, with good sofficient fire-arms, and other war 
tike accoutrements." 

t Pitkin, vol. L, p. 36J. 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 251 

In the meanwhile, the General Congress was busy in 
preparing the way for a declaration of absolute inde- 
pendence of the British Crown. On the tenth of May, 
1776, that body adopted a resolution recommending to 
the assemblies and colonies, where no sufficient govern- 
ment had been established, " to adopt such government 
as should, in the opinion of the representatives of the peo- 
ple, best conduce to the happiness and safety of their con- 
stituents in particular, and America in general." In the 
preamble to this resolution, Congress declared it to be 
" irreconcilable to reason and good conscience for the 
colonists to take the oaths required for the support of the 
government under the Crown of Great Britain." They 
also declared it necessary that all royal power should be 
suppressed, and " all the powers of government exerted 
under the authority of the people of the colonies, for the 
preservation of internal peace, virtue, and good order, as 
well as for the defence of their lives, liberties, and pro- 
perties, against the hostile invasions and cruel depreda- 
tions of their enemies." This was a bold and vigorous 
6tride toward a declaration of independence. 

While a majority of the members of the Congress were 
yearning, with anxious and irrepressible zeal, for the con- 
summation of an event which they felt must inevitably 
OCCU r — and all eyes were turned with earnest gaze upon 
that august assembly as the organ that should proclaim 
" liberty to the land, and to the inhabitants thereof," 
there seemed to be no one courageous enough to step 
forth and take the awful responsibility of lifting the knife 
that should sever the cord that bound the American colo- 
nies to the British throne. It was very properly appre- 
hended, that the person who should first propose to de- 
clare the colonies independent, would be specially marked 
by the royal government as an arch rebel, and that no 
effoit would be spared to quench hi? spirit or bring his per* 



252 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

son to the scaffold. In that dark hour of hesitation and 
fearful dread, Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, assumed 
the perilous responsibility of presenting to Congress a 
proposition to dissolve all political connection with Great 
Britain. The assembly of Virginia, as we have already 
seen, had instructed its delegates to propose a declaration 
of independence ; and, as soon as the instructions arrived, 
the Virginia delegation appointed Mr. Lee to move a re- 
solution conformably to it. Accordingly, on the seventh 
of June, Mr. Lee moved the resolution, (among others,) 
" That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, 
free and independent states ; and that all political connec- 
tion between them and the state of Great Britain is, and 
ought to be, totally dissolved." * The consideration of 
the resolutions was deferred until the next morning. 

On the eighth, Congress discussed the resolutions in 
committee of the whole house, and finally deferred the 
farther consideration of them until Monday, the tenth. On 
that day it was " Resolved, That the consideration of the 
first resolution [motion for independence] he postponed 
to the first Monday in July next, and, in the meanwhile, 
that no time be lost, in case the Congress agree thereto, 
a committee be appointed to prepare a declaration, to the 
effect of the first resolution, which is in these words, to 
wit: ' That these united colonies are, and of right ought 
to be, free and independent states ; that they are absolved 



* Congress being of opinion that the member who made the first motion on tne 
subject of independence would certainly be exposed to personal and imminent 
danger, directed its Secretary to omit the name of the mover. Accordingly, ir 
the journal of Friday, June 7th, it is thus stated : " Certain resolutions respecting 
independence being moved and seconded, it was resolved, that the consideration 
of them be deferred until tomorrow morning ; and that the members be enjoined 
to attend punctually at ten o'clock, in order to take the same into their considera- 
tion." The name, neither of him who moved the resolutions, nor of him who 
seconded them, was mentioned. Richard Henry Lee was the mover, and Toon 
Adama seconded them. — See Life of Richard Henry Let, by his grandson, vol. L p 
17U. 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 253 

from all allegiance to the British Crown ; and that all 
political connection between them and the state of Great 
Britain is, and caught to be, totally dissolved.' " 

Richard Henry Lee, and John Adams, were the chief 
speakers in favor of the resolutions, during the debates 
which occurred from the seventh to the tenth of June in- 
clusive ; and they left no argument unused that was cal- 
culated to convince the hesitating, confirm the wavering, 
or persuade and encourage the timid and fearful. Lee, 
in particular, was incessant in his labors ; and his sweet, 
persuasive eloquence, with all its wonted allurements, was 
constantly employed. His first speech on the resolution 
fixed the earnest attention of the Congress, and the con- 
cluding sentences, as recorded by Botta, were replete 
with eloquent force : " Why then, sir," he exclaimed, 
M do we longer delay % Why still deliberate 1 Let this 
happy day give birth to an American republic ! Let her 
arise, not to devastate and conquer, but to re-establish 
the reign of peace and law. The eyes of Europe are 
fixed upon us ; she demands of us a living example of 
freedom, that may exhibit a contrast, in the felicity of the 
citizen, to the ever-increasing tyranny which desolates 
her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum, 
where the unhappy may find solace, and the persecuted 
lepose. She entreats us to cultivate a propitious soil, 
where that genuine plant, which first sprang and grew in 
England, but is now withered by the blasts of Scottish 
tyranny, may revive and flourish, sheltering under its salu- 
brious and interminable shade all the unfortunate of the 
human race. If we are not this day wanting in our duty 
to our country, the names of the American legislators of 
'76 will be placed by posterity at the side of those of 
Theseus, of Lycurgus, of Romulus, of Numa, of the 
three Williams of Nassau, and of all those whose 
memory has been, and forever will be, dear to virtuou* 
men and good citizens." 



2L4: THE DECLARATION OP INDEPENDENCE 

The resolution to postpone the further consideration 
of the subject, and to appoint a committee to prepare a 
declaration of independence, was adopted, and the next 
day (the eleventh) a committee of five was formed, con- 
sisting of Thomas, Jefferson, of Virginia, John Adams, of 
Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania, Ro- 
ger Sherman, of Connecticut, and Robert R. Livingston, 
of New York. On the evening of the tenth, Mr. Lee re- 
ceived intelligence, by express, from Virginia, that his 
lady was seriously ill, and he was compelled to ask leave 
of absence for a short time. He left Philadelphia the 
next morn in or before the committee was formed, and this 
circumstance deprived him of the honor of being a mem- 
ber of it, and of acting as chairman, which position usual 
legislative courtesy would have assigned him. Mr. Jeffer- 
son was appointed chairman of the committee, and his col- 
leagues assigned to him the task of preparing a draft of 
the declaration to be presented to Congress. It was unan- 
imously adopted by the committee after a few verbal alte- 
rations by Mr. Adams and Doctor Franklin, and on the 
first of July, according to the resolution of the tenth of 
June, Congress resumed the consideration of Mr. Lee's 
resolution, and the committee reported the draft of a de- 
claration of independence. The following is a copy of 
the original draft, before any amendments were made in 
Committee of the Whole.* The passages omitted by 



■ On the eighth of July, four days after the Declaration, as amended, was adopted, 
Mr. Jefferson wrote the following letter, and sent it, with the original draft, to Mr. 
I.ee :— 

Philadelphia, July 8, 1776. 

Dear Sir, — For news, I refer you to your brother who writes on that head. 
I enclose you a copy of the Declaration of Independence, as agreed to by the 
House, and als as originally framed ; you will judge whether it is the better or 
the worse for the critics. I shall return to Virginia after the 11th of August. I 
wish my successor may be certain to come before that time : in that case, I 
shall hope to see you, and not Wythe, in convention, that the business of govern- 
ment, which is of everlasting concern, may receive your aid. Adieu, and believa 
me to be, Your friend and servant. 

To Richard Henry Lee, Esq. Thomas Jkfferso*. 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 25-5 

Congress, are printed in Italics, and the substitutions are 
given at the bottom of each page. 

A Declaration by the Representatives of the United 
States of America, in general Congress assembled. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes ne- 
cessary for one peop 1 * 3 ! to dissolve the political bands 
which have connected them with another, and to assume, 
among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal 
station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God 
entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind 
requires that they should declare the causes which im- 
pel them to the separations 

We hold these truths to be self-evident : that all men 
are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Cre- 
ator with inherent and inalienable* rights ; that among 
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that 
to secure these rights, governments are instituted among 
men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the 
governed ; that whenever any form of government be- 
comes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the 
people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new gov- 
ernment, laying its foundation on such principles, and or- 
ganizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem 
most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence 
indeed, will dictate, that governments, long established 
mould not be changed for light and transient causes. 
And, accordingly, all experience hath shown, that man- 
kind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are suffeiable, 
than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which 
they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses 
and usurpations, begun at a distant period, and pursuing 
invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce 

* Certain unalienable. 



256 THE DECLARATION OP INDEPENDENCE 

them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is then 
duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new 
guards for their future security. Such has been the pa- 
tient sufferance of these colonies ; and such is now the 
necessity which constrains them to expunge* th&ir former 
systems of government. The history of the present king 
of Great Britain, is a history of unremitting] injuries and 
usurpations ; among which appears no solitary fact to con- 
tradict the uniform tenor of the rest ; but all have,\ in di- 
rect object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over 
these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a 
candid world ; for the truth of which we pledge a faith yet 
unsullied by falsehood. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome 
and necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of im- 
mediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in 
their operation till his assent should be obtained ; and 
when so suspended, he has neglected utterly § to attend to 
them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommoda- 
tion of large districts of people, unless those people would 
relinquish the right of representation in the legislature ; a 
right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places un- 
usual, uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of 
their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them 
into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly and 
continually, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions 
on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, 
to cause others to be elected, whereby the legislative 
powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the 

* Alter. t Repeated, \ Having. t> Utterly neglected. 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 257 

people at large for their exercise, the state remaining in 
the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from 
without and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these 
states : for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturali- 
zation of foreigners ; refusing to pass others to encourage 
their migrations hither ; and raising the conditions of new 
appropriations of lands. 

He has suffered the administration of justice totally to 
cease in some of these states* refusing his assent to laws 
for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made our judges dependent on his will alone, 
for the tenure of their offices and the amount and 'pay- 
ment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices by a self- 
assumed power, and sent hither swarms of officers to ha 
rass our people and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing ar- 
mies and ships of war, without the consent of our legisla- 
tures. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, 
and superior to, the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a juris- 
diction foreign to our constitutions, and unacknowledged 
by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended 
legislation : 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us . 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment 
f)r any murders which they should commit on. the inhab- 
itants of these states ; 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent ; 

For depriving ust of the benefits of trial by jury ; 

* He has obstructed the aininistration of justice, by. 
In inanv cmrs 

17 



258 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENL ENClS - 

For transporting us beyond the seas to be tried foi 
pretended offences. 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a 
neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary 
government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render 
it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing 
the same absolute rule into these states ;* 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most val- 
uable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our 
governments ; 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring 
themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all 
cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, withdrawing his 
governors, and\ declaring us out of his allegiance and pro- 
tection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt 
our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign 
mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, 
and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty 
and perfidy,| unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our 
frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule 
of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, 
sexes and conditions of existence ; he has excited treason- 
able insurrections of our fellow citizens with the allure- 
ments of forfeiture and confiscation of our property. 

He has constrained other s,\\ taken captive on the high 
seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the 
executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall them- 
selves by their hands. 

He has waged civil war against human nature itself vio* 

* Colonies. t By. 

X Scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally 

li Our fellow citizen-. 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 259 

tating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the per- 
sons of a distant people, who never offended him, captiva- 
ting and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, 
or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. 
This piratical warfare, the opprobium of infidel powers, is 
the warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain. De- 
termined to keep open a market where men should be bought 
and sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing 
every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this ex- 
ecrable commerce. And that this assemblage of horrors 
might want no fact of distinguished dye, he is now exciting 
those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase 
that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering 
the people upon whom he obtruded them : thus paying off 
former crimes committed against the liberties of one people 
with crimes which he urges them to commit against the 
lives of another. 

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned 
for redress in the most humble terms : our repeated peti- 
tions have been answered only by repeated injury. A 
prince whose character is thus marked by every act which 
may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a people 
who mean to be free* Future ages will scarce believe that 
the hardiness of one man adventured within the short com- 
pass of twelve years only, to build a foundation, so broad 
and undisguised, for tyranny over a people, fostered and 
fixed in principles of freedom. 

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British 
brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of 
attempts by their legislature to extend a\ jurisdiction over 
these our states. % We have reminded them of the circum- 
stances of our emigration and settlement here ; no one of 
which could warrant so strange a pretension ; that these 

' Free people. t An unwarrantable. t Us. 



260 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

were effected at the expense of our own blood and treasure^ 
unassisted by the wealth or the strength of Great Britain : 
that in constituting indeed our several forms of government, 
we had adopted one common king, thereby laying a founda- 
tion for perpetual league and amity with them ; but that 
to their parliament was no part of our constitution, nor 
eve? in idea, if history may be credited ; and we* appealed 
to their native justice and magnanimity as well as to\ the 
ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations 
which were likely to\ interrupt our connexions and corre- 
spondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of jus- 
tice and of consanguinity ; and when occasions have been 
given them, by the regular course of their laws, of removing 
from their councils the disturbers of our harmony, they have 
by their free election, re-established them in power. At 
this very time too, they are permitting their chief magistrate 
to send over, not only soldiers of our common btood, but 
\ Scotch and] foreign mercenaries to invade and destroy us. 
These facts have given the last stab to agonizing affection ; 
and manly spirit bids us to renounce for ever these unfeeling 
brethren. We must endeavor to forget our former love for 
them; we must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which 
denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold 
the rest of mankind, enemies in war ; in peace, friends. 

We might have been a free and great people together ; 
but a communication of grandeur and of freedom, it seems 
is below their dignity. Be it so, since they will have it 
The road to happiness and to glory is open to us too ; we 
will climb it apart from them, and acquiesce in the necessity 
which denounces our eternal separation. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States 
of America in general Congress assembled, appealing to 
the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our 

* Have. t Aud we have conjured them by. % Would inevitably 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 261 

intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the 
good people of these states, reject and renounce all alle- 
giance and subjection to the kings of Great Britain, and 
others who may hereafter claim by, through, or under 
them ; we utterly dissolve all political connection which 
may heretofore have subsisted between us and the Par- 
liament or people of Great Britain ; and, finally, we do as- 
sert the colonies to be free and independent states;* and 
that, as free and independent states, they have full power 
to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish 
commerce, and to do all other acts and things which inde«« 
pendent states may of right do. And, for the support of 
this declaration,! we mutually pledge to each other our 
lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." 



The foregoing draft of a Declaration of Independence 
was debated, paragraph after paragraph, from the twenty- 
eighth of June (the day it was reported), until the fourth 
of July ; and many alterations, omissions, and amendments, 
it has been seen, were made. In the meanwhile, the friends 
of the measure were fearful that a unanimous vote of all 
the colonies could not be obtained, inasmuch as Maryland 
and Pennsylvania refused to sanctum the measure. The 
delegates from the former colony were unanimously in fa- 
vor of it, while those of the latter were divided in opinion. 

In consequence of the action in the Assembly of Penn- 
sylvania, it was deemed important that the sense of the 
people upon the momentous question before Congress 
should be taken, and accordingly a convention was called 
to meet at Philadelphia on the twenty-fourth of June, con- 
sisting of committees from each county. The members 
of that convention, acting as the representatives of the 

* Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of 
right ought to be, free and independent states ; that they are absolved from all 
allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them 
and the state of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. 

t Witii a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence. 



262 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

people of Pennsylvania passed a resolution in which they 
expressed " their willingness to concur in a vote of Con- 
gress, declaring the united colonies free and independent 
states." This resolution left the Pennsylvania delegates 
free to act according to the dictates of their own judg- 
ments and consciences. 

As we have already observed, in the biography of 
Charles Carroll and others of the delegates from Mary- 
land, the convention of that colony, as late as the latter 
part of May, instructed their delegates not to vote r or 
independence ; but through the indefatigable labor? and 
great influence of Chase, Carroll, Paca,and others, another 
convention was held in that colony ; and on the twenty- 
eighth of June they recalled their former instructions and 
empowered their delegates "to concur with the other col- 
onies in a declaration of independence, in forming a union 
among the colonies, in making foreign alliances, and in 
adopting such measures as should be judged necessary 
for securing the liberties of America.* 

On the day upon which the committee reported the De- 
claration, it was referred to a committee of the whole 
House, and all the colonies assented to it except Pennsylva- 
nia and Delaware. Four of the seven delegates from the 
former voted against it, and the two delegates from Dela- 
ware, who were present, were divided — Thomas M'Kean 
in favor of it, and George Read opposed to it. It came 
up for final decision on the fourth of July. Robert Morris 
and John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, were absent. The 
former was in favor, the latter was against, the resolution. 
Of the five who were present, Doctor Franklin, James 
Wilson, and John Morton, were in favor of it, and Willing 
and Humphreys were apposed to it ; so the vote of Penn- 
sylvania was secured. To obtain the vote of Delaware, 

* Pitk'u Toli,p. 364 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 263 

Mr. M'Kean after the vote on the first of July, sent an 
express after Mr. Rodney, the other delegate from that 
colony, then eighty miles distant. He arrived in time 
to cast his vote on the fourth, and thus made a majori- 
ty for Delaware. Thus a unanimous vote of the col- 
onies was given in favor of declaring the United Colonies 

FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, " having fllll power to 

levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish 
commerce, and to do all other acts and things which inde- 
pendent states may of right do." From that day the 
word colony is not known in our history * 

Several of the amendments and alterations of the origi- 
nal draft of the Declaration of Independence, were merely 
verbal ones, but there were others involving matters of se- 
rious import. It has been said that the paragraph com- 
mencing with the words " He has waged a cruel war 
against human nature itself," &c, was not palatable to those 
delegates who were slave-holders, and that it was stricken 
out lest it should be a cause for them to cast a negative 
vote on the question. But there is not the least shadow 
of evidence to prove that such selfish motives guided any 
one in that august assembly. On the contrary, it was a 
high and holy regard for truth and justice, which caused 
that eloquent paragraph to be stricken out. The Con- 
gress in that Declaration was enumerating those aggres- 
sions against the rights and privileges of the colonies, 
justly chargeable upon George III. as an individual, hav- 
ing been done by his personal sanction, or by his dele- 
gated representatives. Such being the case, it was mani- 
festly unjust, indeed not strictly true, to charge him with 
the evils concomitant to slavery and the slave-trade. 

* On the ninth of Sept«*nber ensuing, Congress adopted the following resolu- 
tion : " That in all continental commissions where heretofore the words " United 
Colonies " have been used, the style be altered in future to the *• United State*." 
In 1777, the red ground of the American flag was altered to thirteen red and wktti 
ttripes, aa an emblem of the thirteen states united in a war for liberty. 



264 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

This trade was begun and carried on, long before the 
reign of even the first George ; and it is not known that 
George the Third ever gave his assent to anything rela- 
ting to slavery, except to abolish it and declare the trade 
a piracy . # 

The Declaration as amended, and adopted by Congress, 
and which was sent forth to the world as the voice of the 
people of the thirteen United States, was as follows : 

" When, in the course of human events, it becomes 
necessary for one people, to dissolve the political bands 
which have connected them with another, and to assume, 
among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal 
station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God 
entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind 
requires that they should declare the causes which impel 
them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident — that all men 
are created equal; that they are endowed by their Crea- 
tor, with certain unalienable rights ; that among these are 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure 
these rights, governments are instituted among men, 
deriving their just powers from the consent of the 
governed; that whenever any form of government 
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the 
people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new govern- 
ment, laying its foundation on such principles, and 
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall 
seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. 
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long 
established, should not be changed for light and transient 

caus«\s ; and, nccordingly, all experience hath shown, that 

p 

* i'y a resolution of the Congress of the United States, the slave-trade has been 
dec) xred a piracy, and the maritime nations of Europe were by that resolution 
inv'-redtoBO consider it by the law of nations. Mr. Jefferson was, doubtless, th* 
fir -t man in modern times who denounced the traffie as a " piratical warfare."-— 
S*c Life of Richard Henry Lee, vol. i., p. 176. 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 265 

mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are suf- 
ferable, than to right themselves, by abolishing the forms 
to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of 
abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same 
object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute 
despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off 
such government, and to provide new guards for their 
future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of 
these colonies ; and such is now the necessity which con- 
strains them to alter their former systems of government. 
The history of the present king of Great Britain is a his- 
tory of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in 
direct object the eatablishment of an absolute tyranny 
over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to 
.a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome 
and necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of imme- 
diate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their 
operations till his assent should be obtained ; and, when so 
suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommoda- 
tion of large districts of people, unless those people would 
relinquish the right of representation in the legislature — a 
right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unu- 
sual, uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of 
their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing 
them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses, repeatedly, for 
opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights 
of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, 
to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative 
powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the 



266 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

people at large for their exercise ; the state remaining, in 
the meantime, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from 
without and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these 
states ; for that purpose obstructing the laws for the 
naturalization of foreigners ; refusing to pass others to 
encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions 
of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by 
refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary 
powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the 
tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of 
their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent 
hither swarms of officers, to harass our people and eat 
out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing 
armies, without the consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, 
and superior to, the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a juris- 
diction foreign to our constitutions, and unacknowledged 
by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended 
legislation : 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us : 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment 
for any murders which they should commit on the inhabi- 
tants of these states : 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world : 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent : 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial 
by jury : 

For transporting its beyond seas, to be tried for pre 
tended offences : 



HIS "ORICALl.Y CONSIDERED. 867 

For abt ashing the free system of English laws in a 
neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary 
government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render 
it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing 
the same absolute rule into these colonies : 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valu* 
able laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our 
governments : 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring 
themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all 
cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out 
of his protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt 
our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign 
mercenaries, to complete the works of death, desolation, 
and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty 
and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous 
ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive 
on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to 
become the executioners of their friends and brethren, 
or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections among us, and 
has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our fron- 
tiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of 
warfare is an undistinguished destiuction, of all ages, 
sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned 
for redress in the most humble terms : our repeated peti- 
tions have been answered only by repeated injury. A 
prince whose character is thus marked by every act 
which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a 
free people. ' 



268 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British 
brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of 
attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable 
jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the cir- 
cumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We 
have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity 
and Ave have conjured them by the ties of our common 
kindred, to disavow these usurpations which would in- 
evitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. 
They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and of 
consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the 
necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them 
as we hold the rest of mankind — enemies in war — in 
peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States 
of America, in general Congress assembled, appealing to 
the Supreme Judge of the world, for the rectitude of our 
intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the 
good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and 
declare that these united colonies are, and of right ought 
to be, free and independent states : that they are absolved 
fiom all allegiance to the British crown, and that all poli- 
tical connection between them and the state of Great 
Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, 
as free and independent states, they have full power to 
levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish 
commerce, and to do all other acts and things which inde- 
pendent states may of right do. And for the support of 
this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection 
of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other 
our lives,, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." 

This Declaration was signed, on the day of its 
adoption, by John Hancock, the President of Congress, 
only ; and, with his name alone, it was sent forth to the 
world. It was ordered to be entered at length upon 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 269 

the journal ; and it was also ordered to be engrossed 
upon parchment for the delegates to sign it. This 
solemn act was done on the second day of August fol- 
lowing, by fifty-four delegates, and two others signed 
it subsequently, (they not being present at that time,) 
making the whole number of the signers, fifty-six.* 

The Declaration was received with public demonstra- 
tions of approbation throughout the whole land. Pro- 
cessions were formed ; cannons were fired ; bells were 
rung ; orations were pronounced ; and everything which 
delight could suggest was exhibited. Everywhere, the 
hearts of the patriots were gladdened,t and, although 
long years of trial, and misery, and bloody strife, appeared 
before them, they felt that by this act half the work was 
accomplished, for, as " union is strength," they were then 
strong.| 

Having thus briefly glanced at the events immediately 
connected with the conception, preparation and adoption 
cf the Declaration of Independence, we now propose 
to examine, and prove the truth, of the various specific 
charges made therein against the King of Great Britain. It 
must be borne in mind that the royal governors — 
the King's deputies — acting as his representatives, were 
regarded, in these charges, as the King himself; and ; 
whenever they were guilty of a sin of omission or com- 

* It is said that after the Declaration was signed, a deep solemnity rested upon 
all present, and profound silence pervaded the assembly. It was at length broken 
by Dr. Franklin, who remarked, " Gentlemen, we must now all hang together, or we 
shall most assuredly hang separately." 

t Washington, then encamped upon York Island, received a copy of the Decla- 
ration on the ninth of July, and at six o'clock that evening the regiments of his 
army were paraded, and the document was read aloud in the hearing of them all 
It was greeted with the most hearty demonstrations of joy and applause. 

| Samuel Adams, in a letter to Richard Henry Lee, dated at " Philadelphia, July 
15th, 1776," said, " Our Declaration of Independence has given vigor to the spirit* 
of the people. Had this decisive measure been taken nine months ago, it is my 
opinion that Canada would by this time have been in our hands. But what doe* 
it avail to find fault with what is past ? Let us do better for the future." 



270 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

mission, in the exercise of their authority, it was coi* 
sidered as the act of the Sovereign. 

I. He has refused Ms assent to laws the most wholesome 

and necessary for the public good. 

After the conclusion of a general peace in 1763, 
between Great Britain and the states of Europe with 
which she had been at war for seven long years, the con- 
duct of the government toward its American colonies 
was very materially altered. Whether it arose from 
avarice, or from a jealousy of the power of the colonies 
so signally displayed during the war just closed, or a fear 
that a knowledge of that power would make the colonists 
aspire to political independence, it is not easy to deter- 
mine. It is probable that these several causes com- 
bined engendered those acts of direct and indirect 
oppression, which finally impelled the colonies to open 
rebellion. 

The growing commercial importance of the colonies, 
and their rapidly accumulating wealth and more rapid 
increase of population, required new laws to be enacted, 
from time to time, to meet the exigencies which these 
natural increments produced. The colonial assemblies 
made several enactments touching their commercial ope- 
rations, the emission of a colonial currency, and colonial 
representation in the imperial parliament, all of which 
would have been highly beneficial to the colonies, and not 
at all prejudicial to the best interests of Great Britain. 
But the jealousies of weak or wicked ministers, excited 
by the still stronger jealousies of colonial governors, inter- 
posed between the King and his American subjects, and 
to these laws, so " wholesome and necessary for the pub- 
lic good," he refused his royal assent. When the excite- 
ments produced by the " Stamp Act " resulted in popular 
tumults, an 1 public property was destroyed, and royal autho«- 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 271 

iity was defied, the home government, through Secretary 
Conway, informed the Americans that these things should 
be overlooked, provided the assemblies should, by appro- 
priations, make full compensation for all losses thus sus- 
tained. This requisition the assemblies complied with ; 
but in Massachusetts, where most of the indemnification 
was to be made, the legislatuie, in authorizing the pay- 
ment thereof, granted free pardon to all concerned in the 
tumults, desiring thus to test the sincerity of the proposi- 
tion of the Crown to forgive the offenders. This act was 
" wholesome and necessary for the public good," for it 
would have produced quiet, and a return of confidence in 
the promises of the King.' But the King and his council 
disallowed the act — he " refused his assent." 

II. He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of imme- 
diate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their 
operation till his assent should be obtained ; and y 
when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to 
them. 

In 1764, the assembly of New York were desirous of 
taking measures to conciliate the Indian tribes, particu- 
larly the Six Nations, and to attach them firmly to the 
British colonies. To this measure Governor Colden lent 
his cheerful assent, privately ; but representations having 
been made to the King, by an agent of Lord Bute, then 
travelling in the colonies, that the ulterior design was to 
add new strength to the physical power of the colonists 
for some future action inimical to their dependence 
upon Great Britain, the monarch sent instructions to all 
his governors to desist from such alliances, or to suspend 
their operations until his assent should be given. With 
this order, the matter rested, for then (as was doubtless 
his intention) he "utterly neglected to attend to them." 
The assembly of Massachusetts, in 1770, passed a law 



272 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

for taxing the commissioners of customs and other ofn 
cers of the Crown, the same as other citizens. Of this 
they complained to the King, and he sent instructions tc 
Governor Hutchinson to assent to no tax bill of this 
kind, without first obtaining the royal consent. These 
instructions were in violation of the expressed power of 
the charter of Massachusetts ; and the assembly, by reso- 
lution, declared " that for the Governor to withhold his 
assent to bills, merely by force of his instructions, is 
vacating the charter, giving instructions the force of law 
within the province." Neither the assembly nor the 
Governor would yield, and no tax bill was passed that 
session. The assembly was prorogued until September, 
and then again until April, 1772 ; and all that while laws 
of pressing importance were virtually annulled — the King 
" utterly neglected to attend to them." 

III. He has refused, to pass other laws for the accommoda- 
tion of large districts of people unless those people would 
relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, 
a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants 



In the spring of 1774, Parliament passed a bill, by 
which the free system of English government in Canada, 
or, as it was called, the " province of Quebec," was radi- 
cally changed. Instead of the popular representative sys 
tern by a colonial assembly, as obtained in the other Anglo 
American colonies, the government was vested in a Legis- 
lative council, having all power, except that of levying 
taxes. The members of the council were appointed by 
the crown, the tenure of their office depending upon the 
will of the King. Thus the people were deprived of 
the representative privilege. A large majority of the in- 
habitants were French Roman Catholics, and as the same 
act established that religion in the province, they consid 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 273 

end this a sufficient equivalent for the political privilege 
that had been taken away from them. But "large districts" 
of people o c English descent bordering on Nova Scotia, 
felt this act to be a grievous burden, for they had ever 
been taught that the right of representation was the dear- 
est prerogative conferred by the Magna Charta of Great 
Britain. They therefore sent strong remonstrances to 
parliament, and humble petitions to the King, to restore 
them this right. But not only were their remonstrances 
and petitions unheeded, but their efforts to procure the 
passage of laws by the Legislative Council touching their 
commercial regulations with Nova Scotia, were fruitless, 
and they were plainly told by Governor Carleton (under 
instructions from the Secretary for Foreign Affairs) that 
no such laws should be passed until they should cease 
their clamors for representation, and quietly submit to the 
administration of the new laws. But, like their more 
southern neighbors, they could not consent to sacrifice 
a principle, even upon the stern demands of hard neces- 
sity, and they were obliged to forego the advantages which 
asked-for enactments would have given. The right which 
they claimed, was a right guarantied by the British con- 
stitution, and was " inestimable to them." But as the 
right was "formidable to tyrants," and as the King, by his 
sanction of the destruction of free English laws in Canada 
had dared to become such, they were obliged to submit, 
or else " relinquish the right of representation in the Leg- 
islature." 

About the same time, a bill was passed "For the better 
regulating the government in the province of Massachu- 
setts Bay." This bill provide^ for an alteration in the 
constitution of that province, as it stood upon the charter 
of William III. to do away with the popular elections 
which decided everything in that colony; to take away 
tha executive power out of the hands of the growing de 



274 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

mocratic party ; and to vest the nominations of the coun« 
cil, of the judges, and of magistrates of all kinds, inclu- 
ding sheriffs, in the Crown, and in some cases in the 
King's governor. This act deprived -the people of free 
"representation in the legislature ;" and when in the ex- 
ercise of their rights, and on the refusal of the Governor 
to issue warrants for the election of members of Assembly, 
in accordance with the provisions of their charter before 
altered, they called a convention, their expressed wishes, 
for the passage of " laws for the accommodation of large 
districts of people" were entirely disregarded. They 
were refused the passage of necessary laws, unless they 
would quietly " relinquish the right of representation in 
the legislature, — a right inestimable to them, and formi- 
dable to tyrants only." 

IV. He has called together legislative bodies at places unu- 
sual, uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of 
their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing 
them into compliance with his measures. 
The inhabitants of Boston became the special objects 
of ministerial vengeance, after the news of the destruc- 
tion of tea in that harbor reached England. That event 
occurred on the evening of the sixteenth of December, 
1773, and in February following the matter was laid 
before Parliament. It \%as at once determined to punish 
severely the people of that refractory town; and accord- 
ingly Lord North, then prime minister, presented a bill 
which provided for the total annihilation of the trade and 
commerce of Boston, and the removal of the courts, offi- 
cers of customs, &c, therefrom. This was the famous 
•* Boston Port Bill," and it went into effect on the first of 
June following. 

General Gage, who had been appointed governor of 
the province arrived at Boston about the last of May, and 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 27£ 

at once proceeded, according to his instructions to remove 
the courts, &c, from that town. He also adjourned the 
assembly, >n the thirty-first of May, to meet on the seventh 
of June, at Salem. But he retained all the public records 
in Boston, so that if the members of the assembly had 
been so disposed they could not have referred to them. 
Military power ruled there — two regiments of British 
troops being encamped upon the Commons. The patri- 
otic assembly, although " distant from the repository of 
the public records," and in a place extremely "uncomfort- 
able," were not "fatigued into compliance with his mea- 
sures," but, in spite of the Governor, they elected 
delegates to a general Congress. They adopted various 
other measures for the public good, and then adjourned. 

V. He has dissolved, representative houses repeatedly, for 
opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights 
of the pcop>lc. 

In January, 1768, the assembly of Massachusetts 
addressed a circular to all the other colonies, asking their 
co-operation with them in asserting and maintaining the 
principle that Great Britain had no right to tax the colo- 
nies without their consent. This was a bold measure, 
and more than all others displeased the British ministry. 
As soon as intelligence of this proceeding reached the 
ministry, Lord Hillsborough, the secretary for foreign 
affairs, was directed to send a letter to Bernard, the 
Governor of Massachusetts, in which it was declared, 
that " his majesty considers this step as evidently tending 
to create un warrantable combinations, to excite unjustifi- 
able opposition to the constitutional authority of parlia- 
ment ;" and then he added, " It is the King's pleasure, 
that as soon as the general court is again assembled, at 
the time prescribed by the charter, you require of the 
house of representatives, in his majesty's name, to rescind 



276 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

the resolutions which gave birth to the circular letter 
from the speaker, and to declare their disapprobation of, 
and dissent to, that rash and hasty proceeding. If the 
new assembly should refuse to comply with his majesty's 
reasonable expectations, it is the King's pleasure that you 
should immediately dissolve them." 

In accordance with his instructions, Governor Bernard 
required the assembly to rescind the resolutions. To this 
requisition, the house replied : " If the votes of this house 
are to be controlled by the direction of a minister, we 
have left us but a vain semblance of liberty. "We have 
now only to inform you that this house have voted not to 
rescind, and, that on a division on the question, there were 
ninety-two yeas and seventeen nays." The Governor at 
once proceeded to dissolve the assembly ; but before the 
act was accomplished, that body had prepared a list of 
serious accusations against him, and a petition to the King 
for his removal. Counter circulars were sent to the 
several colonies, warning them to beware imitating the 
factious and rebellious conduct of Massachusetts ; but they 
entirely failed to produce the intended effect, and the as- 
semblies in several of the colonies were dissolved by the 
respective governors. 

In 1769, the assemblies of Virginia and North Caro 
lina were dissolved by their governors, for adopting reso- 
lutions boldly denying the right of the King and parliament 
to tax the colonies — to remove offenders out of the coun- 
try for trial — and other acts which infringed upon the 
sacred rights of the people. 

In 1774, when the various colonial assemblies enter 
tained the proposition for a general congress, they were 
nearly all dissolved by the respective governors, to pre- 
vent the adoption of the scheme and the election of dele- 
gates to that national council. But the people assembled 
in popular conventions, assumed legislative powers, and 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 277 

elected their delegates to a General Congress, in spite of 
the efforts of royal minions to restrain them. These disso- 
lutions of" representative houses repeatedly" only tended 
to inflame the minds of the people and widen the breach 
between them and their rulers. 

VI. He has refused, for a longtime after such dissolutions, 
to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative 
powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the 
people at large for their exercise, the state remaining, in 
the meantime, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from 
without and convulsions within. 

Soon after the repeal of the Stamp Act, in 1767, the col- 
onists were again alarmed at the expressed intention of 
ministers to enforce a new clause in the Mutiny Act. This 
act granted power to every officer, upon obtaining a war- 
rant from a justice, to break into any house by day or by 
night, in search of deserters. The new clause alluded to 
provided that the troops sent out from England should be 
furnished with quarters, beer, salt and vinegar, at the ex- 
pense of the colonies. The people justly regarded this as 
disguised taxation, and opposed it as a violation of the 
same principles as those upon which the Stamp Act tram- 
pled. Besides, the soldiers were insolent and overbearing 
toward the citizens ; they were known to be quartered 
here for the purpose of abridging and subduing the inde- 
pendent actions of the people, and the supplies demanded 
were to be drawn from the very men whom they came tc 
injure and oppress. 

The Assembly of New York refused to make the re- 
quired provisions for the troops, and in consequence of 
this disobedience of royal orders, its legislative functions 
were entirely suspended. The Assembly was prohibited 
from making any bill, order, resolution or vote, except for 
adjourning, or choosing a speaker, until the requirements 



S78 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

were complied with. Consequently "the legislative pow- 
ers, incapable of annihilation, returned to the people at 
large for their exercise, the state remaining, in the mean- 
time, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without 
and convulsions within." Thus matters stood for several 
months. 

The Assembly of Massachusetts, also, after its dissolution 
by the governor in July, 1768, was not permitted to meet 
again until the last Wednesday of May, 1769, and then 
they found the state house surrounded by a military guard, 
with cannon pointed directly at the place wherein they 
met for deliberation. Thus restricted in the free exer- 
cise of their functions as legislators, the power they had 
possessed " returned to the people, " because it was an- 
nulled in them by restraining their freedom of action 

VJI. He has endeavored to prevent the population of 
these states — for that purpose, obstructing the laivsfor 
the naturalization of foreigners, refusing to pass others 
to encourage their migration hither, and raising the con- 
ditions of new appropriations of lands. 
John, Earl of Bute, was the pupil and favorite com- 
panion of George III. while he was yet Prince of Wales, 
and when, on the sudden death of his grandfather, George 
II., he became King, he looked to this nobleman for council 
and advice. He was one of his first cabinet, and. so com- 
pletely did he influence the mind of the King, at the begin- 
ning of his reign, that those who wished for place or pre- 
ferment, first made their suits to the Earl of Bute. 

Among other measures advised by Bute, was the employ- 
ment of men, in secret service, in different parts of the 
realm, to keep th? King advised of all that in any way 
ejected the power, stability and glory of the crown. 
An agent of this kind was sent by Bute to America 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 279 

and the glowing account which he gave of the rapid 
growth of the colonists in wealth and number, after the 
peace of 1763, and the great influx of German immigrants, 
caused Bute to advise his royal master to look well to those 
things, lest a spirit of independence should grow side by 
side with the increase of power, which would finally re- 
fuse to acknowledge a distant sovereignty, and defy the 
authority of the British crown. Some of the colonial gov- 
ernors within whose jurisdiction immigrants had been most 
freely settled, encouraged this idea, for they found the 
German people, in general, strongly imbued with princi- 
ples of political freedom. Added to this innate character- 
istic, they remembered the German battle-fields where 
George II., in his efforts to maintain the Electorate of 
Hanover, had been the cause of the offering of whole hec- 
atombs of their countrymen upon the altar of the Moloch, 
War. 

George III . therefore, at the instigation of Bute, took mea- 
sures to arrest any influence which this Germanic leaven 
might exert, and he cast obstacles in the way of further 
immigration to any extent. He also became jealous of the 
tendency to immigration to the more salubrious states, es- 
pecially Roman Catholic Maryland, which the French of 
Canada exhibited, fearing their ancient animosities might, 
by contact with the English colonies, weaken the loyalty 
of the latter. 

The colonists on the other hand, joyfully hailed the ap- 
proach of the German immigrants, and extended the right 
hand of fellowship to their now peaceful French brethren. 
Both interest and policy dictated this course toward the 
immigrant, and the colonial assemblies adopted various 
measures to encourage their migration hither. Unwilling 
to excite alarm among the colonists the King endeavored 
to thwart the operation of these measures by instructing 
bis governors to refuse their assent to many of those enact 



280 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

ments until the royal consent should be obtained. Such 
refusals were made under various pretences, and there was 
so much delay in the administration of the naturalization 
laws, through which alone foreigners could hold lands in 
fee, and enjoy other privileges, that immigration in a mea- 
sure ceased. The easy condition too, upon which lands on 
the frontiers were conveyed to foreigners, were so changed, 
that little inducement was held out to them to leave their 
native country ; and the bright prospect of the valley of the 
Ohio peopled and cultivated, which appeared at the peace 
of '63, faded away, and the gloom of the interminable for- 
est alone met the eye. So much did these obstructions 
check immigration, that when the war of the Revolution 
broke out, the current had quite ceased to flow hitherward. 
Bute, however, was right in his conjecture about the inde- 
pendent spirit which the German immigrants would evince, 
if occasion should offer, for when the Revolution broke 
forth, almost the entire German population, numbering 
about two hundred thousand, took side with the patriots. 

VIII. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by re- 
fusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 
Under the act already referred to, " For the better regu- 
lation of the government of Massachusetts Bay," adopted 
in March, 1774, the judiciary powers were taken out of 
the hands of the people. The judges were appointed by 
the Crown, were subject to its will, and depended upon 
it for the emoluments of office. These emoluments, too, 
were paid to them out of moneys extracted from the 
people of the colonies by the "Commissioners of Cus- 
toms," in the form of duties ; and, therefore, the judges 
were more obnoxious to the hate and contempt of the 
colonists. They were also, by this act, deprived, in most 
cases, of the benefits of trial by jury, and the lives and 
property of the people were placed in the custody of the 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 281 

myrmidons of royalty. The " administration of justice " 
was effectually obstructed, and the very rights which the 
people of England so manfully asserted, and successfully 
defended in the revolution of 1688, were trampled under- 
foot. In other colonies, too, the administration of justic 
was so obstructed by the interference of the royal goverr 
ore, that it had but the semblance of existence left. Th 
people tried every honorable means, by petitions to tht 
King, addresses to the parliament, and votes in legislative 
assemblies and in popular conventions, to have laws 
passed, either in the provincial legislature, or in the su- 
preme national council, for " establishing judiciary pow- 
ers ;" but their efforts were ineffectual. Power stood in 
the place of right, and exercised authority ; and under 
the goadings of a system of wrong and oppression, the 
people resorted to arms to "right themselves by abol- 
ishing the forms/' and in prostrating the power of a 
monarchy become odious though the mal-administration 
vi' weak or wicked ministers, 

IX, He has made judges dependent on his will alone for 
the tenure of their offices, aud the amount and payment 
of their salaries. 

In 1773, an act was passed by the British Parliament 
on motion of Lord North, to make the governors and 
judges quite independent of those they governed, by 
paying their salaries directly from the National Treasury, 
instead of making them dependent upon the appropria- 
tions of the Colonial Assemblies for that purpose. This 
measure, making the public servants in the colonies 
wholly dependent upon the Crown for support, and inde- 
pendent of the people, was calculated to make them 
pliant instruments in the hands of their masters — ready 
at all times to do the bidding of the King and his coun- 
cil The various Colonial Assemblies strongly protested 



282 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

against the measure ; and out of the excitement and 
just alarm which followed, that mighty lever of the 
revolution, the system of Committees of Correspondence, 
was brought forth and vigorously applied. 

Early in 1774, the Massachusetts Assembly required 
the judges in that colony to state explicitly whether they 
intended to receive their salaries from the Crown. Chief 
Justice Oliver declared that to be his intention, and the 
Assembly proceeded at once to impeach him. By a vote 
of ninety-six to nine, he was declared to be obnoxious to 
the people of the colony, and a petition to the Go\ernoi 
for his removal was adopted. The Governor refused 
compliance with this expressed will of the people, and 
this was presumptive evidence that the Governor, too, 
intended to receive his salary from the Crown. This 
matter produced much irritation, and just cause for bitter 
complaint on the part of the colonists. The Governor 
assuming the light to keep a judge in his seat, contrary 
to the wishes of the people, and the Crown paying his 
salary, made him dependent upon the will of the King 
alone for the tenure of his office, and the amount and 
payment of his emoluments." 

X. He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent 

hither sivarms of officers to harass our peojrfe, and eat 

out their substance. 

The passage of the Stamp Act, in 1765, called for the 
establishment of a new officer in every sea-port town, who 
was entitled Stamp Master. It was his business to dis- 
pose of the stamps and collect the revenue accruing from 
the same. 

In 1766, an act was passed for imposing rates and 
duties, payable in the colonies. This act called for the 
creation of collectors of the customs, and " swarms of offi 
cers " were brought into being. 



itlSTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 283 

In 1767 an act was adopted "to enable his majesty 
to put the customs, and other duties in America, under 
the management of commissioners," &c, and a board of 
commissioners was at once erected. The members were 
paid high salaries, besides having many perquisites — all 
of which were paid by the colonists. 

In 1768 Admiralty and Vice-Admiralty courts were 
established on a new model, and an increase in the num- 
ber of officers was made ; and thus, by act after act, 
each receiving the royal signature, were " sent hither 
swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their 
substance." 

XI. He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing 
armies, without the consent of our legislatures. 

After the " Peace of Paris," in 1764, when, by treaty, 
the " Seven Years' War " was ended, and quiet was for 
a time restored in both Europe and America, Great 
Britain, instead of withdrawing' her regular troops from 
America, left quite a large number here, and required 
the colonists to contribute to their support. On the sur- 
face of things, there appeared no reason for this " stand- 
ing army in time of peace ;" but there can be little 
doubt, as we have before said, that growing jealousy of 
the power and independent feeling of the colonists, and 
an already conceived design to tax the colonies with- 
out their consent, were the true cause of the presence 
of armed men among a peaceful people. They were 
doubtless intended to suppress democracy and republican 
independence, and to enforce every revenue law, however 
arbitrary and unjust soever it might be. The colonists 
felt this, and hence the presence of the British troops 
was always a cause for irritation, and unappeased dis- 
content. And, finally, when the people of Massachusetts 
began openly to resist the encroachments of British 



284 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

power, a large standing army was quartered in its capi- 
tal, for no other purpose than to awe them into submis- 
sion to a tyrant's will. 

XII. He has affected to render the military independent of 
and superior to, the civil power. 

In the spring of 1774, General GJ-age, who was the 
commander-in-chief of all the British forces in America, 
was appointed Governor of Massachusetts ; and the first 
civil duty he was called upon to perform was to carry 
into effect the provisions of the Boston Port Bill. To 
sustain and enforce this harsh measure, he introduced 
two regiments of troops into Boston ; and soon afterward 
they were reinforced by several regiments from Halifax, 
Quebec, New York, and Ireland. By an order of the 
King, the authority of the commander-in-chief, and under 
him, the brigadier-generals, was rendered supreme in 
all civil governments in America. This, be it remem- 
bered, was in a time of peace ; and thus an uncontrolled 
military power was vested in officers not known as civil 
functionaries to the constitution of any colony. The mili- 
tary was rendered " independent of, and superior to, the 
civil power." 

XIII. He has combined with others to subject us to a 
jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknow- 
ledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of 
pretended legislation. 

One of the most prominent acts, -obnoxious to tftis 
seiious charge, was the establishment by act of Parlia- 
ment, under the sanction of the King, of a Board of 
Trade in the colonies, independent of colonial legislation; 
and the creation of resident commissioners of customs, to 
enforce strictly the revenue laws. This act was passed 
in July, 176" ; and when the news of its adoption 



HTSTORICA1.T.Y CONSIDERED. 285 

leached America, it produced a perfect tornado of in- 
dignation throughout the Colonies. The people per- 
ceived clearly that they were now not only to be sub- 
jected ^ the annoyance of unqualified assertions that Par- 
liament had " a right to bind the colonies in all cases 
whatsoever," but that they were to be subject to the actual 
control of persons appointed to carry out these principles 
avowed by the British Ministry. 

The establishment of this Board of Trade in the 
colonies, unto whom was given power to regulate the 
customs and secure the revenue — the modeling of the 
admiralty courts upon a basis which quite excluded trial 
by jury therein — and the supremacy given to the military 
power in 1774, as alluded to in the next preceding 
charge 1 — are all evidences that prove the truth and jus- 
tice of this charge. 

The Commissioners of Customs arrived in May, 1768, 
and at Boston they entered vigorously upon their duties ; 
and the riots which ensued on the seizure by them of 
a vessel belonging to John Hancock, attest the deep 
feeling of resistance in the hearts of the people to a 
"jurisdiction foreign to their constitution, and unac- 
knowledged by their laws." 

The powers which the Commissioners possessed, in 
connexion with the Board of Trade, in the appointment 
of an indefinite number of subordinates, and in con- 
trolling legislative action, were dangerous to the liberties 
of the people; for they claimed the right of adjudicating 
in all matters connected with the customs'. The jurisdic- 
tion, too, of the newly- modeled Courts of Admiralty, 
where, in many cases, a trial by jury was denied, was 
" foreign to their constitution, and unacknowledged by 
their laws." 

When, in 1774, the charter of Massachusetts was 
altered, the character of the colonial council was 



1 

• ( 

286 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

changed. Before that time, the members of the council, 
(answering to our senate,) were chosen by the general 
assembly, but, in the alteration, it was provided that 
after the first of August of that year they should be 
chosen by the King, to consist of not more than thirty- 
six, nor less than twelve ; and to hold their office during 
his pleasure. To the Governor was given almost unlim- 
ited power, and the people were subjected to " a juris- 
diction foreign to their constitution," and the assent of 
the King was given to the acts of " pretended legisla- . 
lion," made by these crown-chosen senators. 

XIV. For quartering large bodies of armed troops among 
us. 

In 17G7, the patriotic movements of the colonists so 
alarmed the British ministry, that they determined to 
repress the republican feeling by force, if necessary. For 
this purpose, Lord Hillsborough sent a secret letter to 
General Gage, then in Halifax, telling him that it was the 
King's pleasure that he should send one regiment, or 
more, to Boston to assist the civil magistrate and the offi- 
cers of revenue. About the same time, Governor Ber- 
nard, of Massachusetts, requested General Gage to send 
some troops to Boston. Seven hundred were accordingly 
sent; and on the first of October, 1774, they landed, 
under cover of the cannon of armed ships in the harbor. 
The people refused to provide quarters for them, and 
they were quartered in the State House. 

This unwise movement, which greatly exasperated the 
people, was repeated the next year, not only at Boston, 
but in New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, and other 
sea-port towns. At the beginning of 1775, Parliament 
voted a supply of ten thousand men for the American 
service, and a large number of them landed at Boston vs. 
the spring of that year, accompanied by Generals Howe, 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 28' 

Clinton, and Burgoyne. The tragedies of Lexington 
and Concord soon followed ; and in June, the blood of 
American patriots was profusely spilt upon Bunker Hill 
by the " large bodies of armed troops quartered among us." 

XV. For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punish' 
mentfor any murders ivhich they should commit on the 
inhabitants of these states. 

In 1768, a dispute occurred between some soldiers 
and citizens of Annapolis, in Maryland, and two of the 
latter were killed by the former. As they were marines, 
belonging to an armed vessel lying near, they were 
arraigned before the court of admiralty for murder, on 
the complaint of some of the citizens. The whole affair 
assumed the character of a solemn farce, so far as justice 
was concerned ; • and, as might have been expected, the 
miscreants were acquitted. 

In 1771, a band of patriots, called the "Regulators," 
in North Carolina, became so formidable, and were so 
efficacious in stirring the people to rebellion, that 
Governor Tryon of that state, determined to destroy or 
disperse them. Having learned that they had gathered in 
considerable force upon the Alamance river, he proceeded 
thither with quite a large body of regulars and militia. 
They met near the banks of that stream, and a parley 
ensued. The "Regulators," asking only for redress of 
grievances, sought to negotiate, but Tryon perempto- 
rily ordered them to disperse. This they refused to do, 
and some of his men, thirsting for blood, fired upon them and 
killed several. These soldiers were afterward arraigned 
for murder, through the clamorous demands of the peo- 
ple ; but, after a mock trial had been acted, they were 
acquitted, and thus they were " protected from punish- 
ment for any murders which they should commit on th« 
inhabitants of these states." 



288 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

XVI. For cutting off our trade with all parts of the 
world. 

The narrow, restrictive policy of Great Britain, begun 
as early as the middle of the seventeenth century, had a 
tendency to repress, rather than to encourage, the com- 
merce of the colonies. Instead of allowing them free 
commercial intercourse with other nations, the home 
government did all in its power to compel the colonists 
to trade exclusively with Great Britain.* In 1764, the 
British Minister, under a pretence of preventing illegal 
traffic between the British colonies and foreign American 
possessions, made the naval commanders revenue offi- 
cers — directed them to take the usual custom-house 
oaths — and to conform to the custom-house regulations. 
By this means a profitable trade with the Spanish and 
French colonies in America, which the colonists had 
long uninterruptedly enjoyed, (although in violation of 
the old Navigation Act,) was destroyed. This trade was 
advantageous to Great Britain as well as to the colonies ; 
but as the enforcement of these laws was a part of the 
system of "reforming the American governments, "t 
began by Bute, the advantages to England were over- 
looked. Under this act, many seizures of vessels were 
made; and the Americans were so distressed and har- 
assed, that they were obliged to abandon the trade. 

Other measures, having a tendency to narrow the com- 
merce of the colonies to a direct trade with Great Britain, 

* The Navigation Act, first adopted in 1651, and extended in 1660, declared that 
no merchandise of the English plantations should be imported into England in 
any other than English vessels. There were also restrictive laws respecting 
the manufactures of the colonies, and their domestic commerce. For the benefit 
of English manufacturers, the colonists were forbidden to export, or introduce 
from one colony into another, hats and woollens of domestic manufacture ; and 
hatters were forbidden to have, at one time, more than two apprentices. They 
were not allowed to import sugar, rum, and molasses, without paying an exor 
bitant duty, and forbade the erection of certain iron works. 

« See Gordon, vol. i., p. 108. 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 289 

were adopted; and finally, in 1775, among the acts pro- 
jected by- Lord North for punishing the colonies, was one 
for effectually stopping the commerce of New England 
with Great Britain, Ireland, and the West Indies, and 
also fishing on the Banks of Newfoundland. This 
restrictive act, first applied to the New England colo- 
nies, was afterward extended to all the others, and thus, 
as far as parliamentary enactments could effect it, " trade 
with all parts of the world " was cut off. 

XVII. For imposing taxes on us without our consent. 

George Grenville, an honest but short-sighted states- 
man, became the Prime Minister, or " First Lord of the 
Treasury," of Great Britain, in 1764. He found the 
treasury drained empty by the vampire appetite of war, 
and his first care was to devise means to replenish it. 
Believing that the Crown had an unquestionable rightto 
tax its colonies, and perceiving the capacity of the 
Americans to pay a tax if levied, he turned his attention 
co a project for replenishing the treasury, by establishing 
new duties upon all foreign goods imported by the- 
Americans. They were already submitting to the taxes, 
in the shape of duties, which the Navigation Act, and 
the Sugar Act, imposed ; and when this new scheme was 
proposed to Parliament, the people were at once aroused 
to a sense of their danger — they saw clearly the design 
of the British Ministry to impose tax upon tax, as long as 
forbearance would allow it. Action on the subject was 
taken in the colonial assemblies, and one sentiment 
seemed to prevail, — a denial of the right of Great Britain 
to tax its colonies without their consent. The fundamental 
principle of a free government, that " Taxation and 
equitable representation are inseparable" was boldly 
proclaimed, and petitions and remonstrances from the 
19 



290 THE DECLARATION OP INDEPENDENCE 

colonies were transmitted to the King and Parliament. 
But the King, instead of heeding these remonstrances, 
asserted his right to tax the colonies, in his speech to 
Parliament at the opening in January, 1765, and recom- 
mended the adoption of Grenville's measures. Em- 
boldened by this, the Minister proposed his famous 
Stamp Act in February, and in March it became a law, 
and received the royal signature. 

The ferment which this act produced in America, and 
the violent opposition it met with from Pitt, and other 
leading minds in Parliament, caused its repeal in March 
1766. The Repeal Act, however, was accompanied by 
a Declaratory Act, which contained the germ of other 
oppressions- It affirmed that Parliament had power to 
bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever. Although it was 
thought expedient to repeal the Stamp Act, yet the De- 
claratory Act asserted the correctness of the doctrine it 
contained and exhibited practically.* 

Again in 1767, another tax was imposed in the shape of 
duties upon glass, paper, painter's colors, and tea. Here ■ 
again taxes were imposed upon us " without our con- 
sent." The act was strongly condemned throughout the 
colonies, and the British ministry perceiving a tendency 
toward open rebellion in America, repealed this act 
also, excepting the duty upon tea. Finally, in 1773, 
Lord North attempted to draw a revenue from America 
by imposing additional duties upon tea ; but it was met by 
firm opposition, and the celebrated Boston Tea Riot en- 
sued. We might cite other proofs of the truth of mis 
charge, but these may suffice. 

* As the Stamp Act was the first and cniel cause which fully aroused the 
ectonists to a sense of the daBger of enslavement by the mother country, and 
awakered the first notes of universal alarm that led to a general union of tue 
Anglo-Americans in defence of their inalienable rights, and resulted finally ; u 
the adoption of a Declaration of Independence, we have inserted it in detail in 
the Appendix to this work. 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 291 

XVIII. For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of 
trial by jury. 

When the British ministry perceived that their scheme 
for taxing the colonies without their consent, met with de- 
termined opposition, and the Commissioners of Customs, 
in 1768, were obliged to flee for personal safety from 
Boston to Castle William, they so modified the Courts 
of Admiralty in America, as to make them powerful aids 
to these Commissioner and a strong right arm of op- 
pression. An act was passed, in which it was ordained 
" that whenever offences should be committed in the 
colonies against particular acts, imposing various duties 
and restrictions upon trade, the prosecutor might bring 
his action for penalties in the Courts of Admiralty ;" by 
which means the subject lost the advantage of being tried 
" by an honest, uninfluenced jury of the vicinage, and 
was subjected to the sad necessity of being judged by a 
single man, a creature of the crown, and according to the 
course of law, which exempted the prosecutor from the 
trouble of proving his accusation, and obliged the defender 
either to evince his innocence, or suffer.' 7 * 

XIX. For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pre- 
tended offences. 

On the fifteenth of April, 1774, Lord North introduced 
a bill in Parliament, entitled " A bill for the impartial ad- 
ministration of justice in the cases of persons questioned 
for any acts done by*them in the execution of the laws, or 
for the suppression of riots and tumults in the province of 
Massachusetts Bay, in New England." This bill provided 
that in case any person indicted for murder in that prov- 
ince, or any other capital offence, or any indictment for 
riot, resistance of the magistrate, or impeding the revenue 

♦ Address of the first continental congress, to the people of Great Britain. 



292 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

laws in the smallest degree, he might, at the option of the 
Governor, or, in his absence, of the Lieutenant Governor, 
be taken to another colony, or transported to Great Britain, 
for trial, a thousand leagues from his friends, and amidst 
his enemies. 

The arguments used by Lord North in favor of the mea- 
sure, had very little foundation in either truth or justice, 
and the bill met with violent opposition in parliament. 
The minister seemed to be actuated more by a spirit of 
retaliation, than by a conviction of the necessity of such 
a measure. " We must show the Americans," said he, 
'* that we will no longer sit quietly under their insults ; 
and also, that even when roused, our measures are not 
cruel or vindictive, but necessary and efficacious." Colo- 
nel Barre, who, from the first commencement of troubles 
with America, was the fast friend of the colonists, de- 
nounced the bill in unmeasured terms, as big with misery, 
and pregnant with danger to the British Empire. " This," 
said he, " is indeed the most extraordinary resolution 
that was ever heard in the Parliament of England. It 
offers new encouragement to military insolence, already 
so insupportable. By this law, the Americans are de- 
prived of a right which belongs to every human creature, 
that of demanding justice before a tribunal composed of 
impartial judges. Even Captain Preston,* who, in their 
own city of Boston, had shed the blood of citizens, found 
among them a fair trial, and equitable judges." Alder- 
man Sawbridge, another warm friend of the Americans, 
in Parliament, also denounced the bill, not only as un- 
necessary and ridiculous, but unjust and cruel. Ho 
asserted that witnesses against the crown could never be 
brought over to England; that the Act was meant to en- 
slave the Americans ; and he expressed the ardent hcpe 

* See biography of John Adamfl. 



HISTORIC ALLY CONSIDERED. 293 

that the Americans would not admit of the execution of 
any of these destructive bills,* but nobly refuse them all. 
"If they do not," said he, " they are the most abject 
slaves upon earth, and nothing the minister can do is base 
enough for them." 

Notwithstanding the manifest inexpediency of such a 
measure, the already irritated feeling of the colonists, 
and the solemn warning of sound statesmen in both 
Houses of Parliament, the bill was passed by one hundred 
and twenty-seven to forty-four, in the Commons, and 
forty-nine to twelve in the House of Lords. The kino- 
signed the bill, and it was thus decreed that Americans 
might be " transported beyond the seas, to be tried for 
pretended offences" or real crime. I 

XX For abolishing the free system of English laws in a 
neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary 
government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render 
it at once an examj)le and jit instrument for introducing 
the same absolute rule into th ese colonies. 

After the adoption of the Boston Port Bill, the bill for 
changing the government of Massachusetts, and the bill 
providing for the transportation of accused persons to 
England for trial, the British ministry were evidently 
alarmed at the fury of the whirlwind they themselves 
had raised ; and they doubtless had a presentiment of the 
coming rebellion which their own cruel measures had 
engendered and ripened. They therefore thought it pru- 
dent to take steps in time to secure such a footing in 
America as should enable them to breast successfully the 
gathering storm. Accordingly a bill was introduced in 
the House of Lords in May, 1774, " for making more ef- 



* The Boston Port BUI ; the bill for altering, or rather for abolishing, the 
Btitution of Massachusetts ; and the bill under consideration. 



294 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

fectual provision for the government of the province of 
Quebec, in North America." 

This bill proposed the establishment, in Canada, of a 
Legislative Council, invested with all powers, except that 
of levying taxes. It was provided that its members should 
be appointed by the crown, and continue in authority 
during its pleasure ; that Canadian subjects, professing the 
Catholic faith, might be called to sit in the Council ; that 
the Catholic clergy, with the exception of the regular or- 
ders, should be secured in their possessions and of their 
tithes, from all those who professed "their religion ; that 
the French laws, without jury, should be re-established, 
preserving, however, the English laws, with trial by jury, 
in criminal cases. It was also added, in order to furnish 
the ministers with a larger scope for their designs, that 
the limits of Canada should be extended, so as to embrace 
the territory situated between the lakes, and the Ohio and 
Mississippi rivers.* 

This was a liberal concession to the people of Canada, 
nearly all of whom were French, and but a small portion 
of them Protestants.t The nobility and clergy had fre- 
quently complained of the curtailment of their privileges, 
and maintained that they were better off under the old 
tiench rule previous to 1763, than now. The measure 
proposed was well calculated to quiet all discontent in 
Canada, and make the people loyal. By such a result, 

* Soon after the introduction of this bill, Thomas and John Penn, son and grand- 
Bon of William Penn, put in a remonstrance against the boundary proposition, as 
it contemplated an encroachment upon their territory, they being the proprieta- 
ries of Pennsylvania, and the counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, in Dela- 
ware. Burke, also, who was then the agent for New York, contended Against the 
boundary proposition, because it encroached upon the boundary line of that 
Colony. 

f General Carleton, then Governor of Canada, asserted, during his examination 
before Parliament, that there were then in that province only about three hun- 
dred and sixty Protestants, besides women and childrrw; while there wen one 
hundred and fifty thousand Roman Catholics. 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 295 

a place would be secured in the immediate vicinity 
of the refractory Colonies, where troops and munitions of 
war might be landed, and an overwhelming force be con- 
centrated, ready at a moment's warning to march into 
the territory of, and subdue, the rebellious Americans. 
This was doubtless the ulterior design of the ministry in 
offering these concessions, and the eagle vision of Colonel 
Bane plainly perceived it. In the debate on the bill, he 
remarked, " A very extraordinary indulgence is given to 
the inhabitants of this province, and one calculated to gain 
the hearts and affections of these people. To this I can- 
not object if it is to be applied to good purposes ; but if 
you are about to raise a Popish army to serve in the Colo- 
nies, from this time all hope of peace in America will be 
destroyed." 

The bill was so opposed to the religious and national 
prejudices of the great mass of the people of Great 
Britain, that it met with violent opposition both in and 
out of Parliament, yet it passed by a large majority, and 
on the twenty-first of June it became a law by receiving 
the royal signature. 

XXI. For taking aivay our charters, abolishing our most 
valuable laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of 
our governments. 

While the Boston Port Bill was before the Lords, Lord 
North, on the twenty-eighth day of March, 1774, in a 
Committee of the whole Lower House, brought in a bill 
"for the better regulating of the government in the pro- 
vince of Massachusetts Bay." It provided for an altera- 
tion in the Constitution of that province as it stood upon 
the charter of William III. By this act the people of 
Massachusetts were, without a hearing, deprived of some 
of the most important rights and privileges secured to 
them by their chaiter rights which they had enjoyed 



296 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE* 

from the first settlement of the colony. The members of 
the Council, heretofore chosen under the charter, by the 
General Assembly, were, after the first of August of that 
year, to be chosen by the King ; to consist of not more than 
thirty-six, and not less than twelve; and to hold their 
office during his pleasure. After the first of July the 
governor was authorized to appoint and remove, without 
the consent of the Council, all judges of the inferior Courts 
of Common Pleas, Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer 
the Attorney General, Provosts, Marshals, Justices of the 
Peace, and other officers belonging to the Council and 
courts of justice ; and was also empowered to appoint 
sheriffs without the consent of the Council, but not to 
remove them without their consent. 

The ministers did not confine themselves to these fun- 
damental alterations in the charter of that province, but 
materially altered or totally repealed the laws relating to 
town meetings, and the election of jurors ; laws which 
had been in existence from the commencement of the 
government, and deemed a part of the constitution of the 
colony. The right of selecting jurors by the inhabitants 
and freeholders of the several towns, was taken from 
them, and all jurors were by this act, to be summoned, 
and returned by the sheriff's.* 

This bill was zealously opposed by the friends of 
America in the British House of Commons. Barre and 
Burke, the leaders of this party, opposed it with all their 
strength of mind and eloquence of speech. " What," 
said the latter, " can the Americans believe but that Eng- 
land wishes to despoil them of all liberty, of all franchises ; 
and by the destruction of their charters to reduce them 
to a state of the most abject slavery 1 As the Americans 
are no less ardently attached to liberty than the Englbb 

* Pitkin's Political and Civil History of the United States, vol i. p. 266. 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 297 

themselves, can it ever be hoped they will submit to such 
exorbitant usurpation: to such portentous resolutions 1" 
Governor Povvnall, too, lifted up the voice of warning, 
and plainly told the ministers that their measures would 
be resisted, not only by the will and sentiment of the 
whole people, but probably by force of arms. But a 
false security shut the ears of the British ministry against 
all of these portentous warnings, and the British legisla- 
tors seemed to have lost all sense of right and equity. 
The bill was adopted by. an overwhelming majority — two 
hundred and thirty-nine against sixty-four in the Com- 
mons, and ninety-two against twenty in the House of 
Lords. The King gave the bill his royal signature, and 
thus he " combined with others for taking away our 
charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering 
fundamentally, \he forms of our governments." 

XXII. For suspending our own legislatures, and decla- 
ring themselves invested with power to legislate for us 
in all cases whatsoever. 

By the act described in the next preceding charge, enti- 
tled " For the better regulation of government in the pro- 
vince of Massachusetts Bay," the colonial legislature was 
virtually and actually " suspended;" for, according to the 
charter under which the people had always lived and 
been governed, they recognised no legislature but one 
of their own free choice and election. By that act, the 
members of the council were chosen by the King, and a 
free legislature was in fact suspended, and a declaration 
virtually made that the King and Parliament were " in- 
vested with.power to legislate for us in all cases whatso- 
ever." In 1767 the powers of the Legislature of New 
York were suspended indefinitely, because the Assembly 
refused to furnish the soldiers, quartered among them, with 
certain articles mentioned in a clause in the Mutiny Act. 



898 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Iii the language jf the Declaration of Independence, by 
Buch an act of suspension of legislative functions, those 
" powers, incapable of annihilation, returned to the people 
at large for their exercise ;" but the King and his council, 
by both word and deed, claimed that those powers return- 
ed to, and were vested in, the Crown, and thus asserted the 
principle, that it in connexion with the Council, was 
invested with power to legislate for the colonies " in all 
cases whatsoever." 

Lord Dunmore, after dissolving the Assembly of Vir- 
ginia about the beginning of 1775, assumed the same 
right, and issued proclamations to the people, calling upon 
them to perform certain duties, which had not been re- 
quired of them by their own representatives in the 
House of Burgesses. 

XXIII. He has abdicated government here, by declaring 
us out of his protection, and waging war against us. 
As early as the meeting of Parliament in 1774, the 
King, in his address from the throne, spoke of the colo- 
nies as in a state of almost open rebellion, and assured 
Parliament that he should employ vigorous efforts to sup- 
press the unfolding insurrection. Again, in February 
1775, he sent a message to the Commons, declaring his 
American subjects to be in a state of open rebellion, and 
informing them that it would be necessary to augment the 
naval and military force in the colonies. Toward the 
close of 1775, he gave his assent to an agreement, with 
several German princes, to send armies to America to 
assist in crushing his rebellious subjects ; and he sanc- 
tioned the barbarous acts of his governors, who sought 
to engage the Indian tribes in a warfare upon the colonists. 
In these measures, he personally declared us " out }f 
his protection," and waged war against them. 

Through his representatives, his governors of colonie* 






HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 299 

tie, in several instances, " abdicated government here." 
Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, fearing the just 
resentment of the people, " abdicated government," by 
fleeing on board the Fowey ship of war. Tryon, of 
New York, " abdicated government," when, for fear of 
the resentment of the patriots, he fled on board a Halifax 
packet sbip ; and Governor Martin, of North Carolina, 
also took refuge on board a British ship of war. Lord 
William Campbell, Governor of South Carolina, also 
" abdicated government," by withdrawing from the 
colony, and carrying off with him the royal seals and the 
instructions to governors ; and he " waged war " against 
the people, by acting in concert with Sir Peter Parker 
and Sir Henry Clinton, in besieging Charleston. In 
various ways, both personally and by representatives, did 
King George " abdicate government here," and waged a 
" cruel war against us." 

XXIV. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, 

burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our 

people. 

In 1764, when the provisions of the Navigation Act 
were strictly enforced, and the commanders of vessels 
were invested with the power of custom-house officers to 
enforce the revenue laws under that act, a great many 
American vessels were seized, by which much distress 
was produced. Although this was done under the sanc- 
tion of written law, yet it was nothing more, in the mode 
of enforcing the law, than " plundering our seas." 

In April, 1775, the "lives of our people" were 
destroyed at Lexington and Concord, by an expedition 
sent out by Governor Gage, of Massachusetts. In June 
of that year, he " burnt our towns," and destroyed the 
" lives of our people," by his troops setting fire to 
Charlestown, and attacking and slaying our people iipo* 



300 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

Breed's, and Bunker Hill; and shortly afterward, the 
unprotected town of Bristol, in Rhode Island, was can- 
nonaded, because the people refused to comply with an 
order from the commander of the vessels that appeared 
before it, t3 supply him with three hundred sheep. 

In the autumn of 1775, several royal cruisers ravag- 
ing the coasts of New England. Captain Wallace, with 
the man-of-war, Rose, and two others, pursued a vessel 
which took shelter in the port of Stonington, Connecticut. 
He entered the harbor, and opened a fire upon the town, 
which he kept up nearly a whole day. He killed two 
men, and carried off some vessels. This was the same 
Captain (Sir James) "Wallace who afterward commanded 
the flying squadron of small vessels that made a preda- 
tory expedition up the Hudson river, and, in connection 
with Colonel Vaughan of the land force, burnt Esopus 
or Kingston, in Ulster county. 

On the eighteenth of October, Captain Mowatt, with i- 
few armed vessels, burnt the town of Falmouth, upon the 
north-eastern coast of Massachusetts ; . and he asserted 
that he had orders to destroy, by fire^ all the sea-port 
towns from Boston to Halifax. 

In December, 1775, Governor Dunmore, of Virginia, 
having been obliged to take refuge on board the Fowey, 
a British armed vessel at Norfolk, tried, every means 
in his power to bring the people to subjection under him. 
Finally, the frigate Liverpool arrived, and the Governor 
felt quite strong in his resources, believing, that with the 
two vessels and the armed force of tories and blacks 
which he had collected on board, he should be able to 
regain his lost power. He sent a peremptory order to 
the inhabitants of Norfolk to supply the vessels with 
provisions. The order was of course disobeyed ; and on 
the first of January, 1776, the two vessels opened a 
destructive cannonading upon the town. At the same 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 301 

time, some marines were landed, who set fire to the town, 
and reduced it to ashes. 

In June, 1776, while the proposition of independence 
was before Congress, a naval armament under Admiral 
Sir Peter Parker, and a land force under Sir Henry 
Clinton, made a combined attack upon Charleston, South 
Carolina, and many Americans were killed. And after 
the Declaration of Independence went forth, the King's 
minions continued to "plunder our seas, ravage our 
coasts, and destroy the lives of our people." 

XXV. Hs is at this time transporting large armies of foreign 
mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, 
and tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cruelty 
and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous 
ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

Toward the close of 1775, Lord North introduced a 
bill in Parliament, which provided for prohibiting all 
intercourse with the colonies, until they should submit, 
and for placing the whole country under martial law. 
This bill included a clause for appointing resident com- 
missioners in America, who should have discretionary 
powers to grant pardons and effect indemnities, in case 
the Americans should come to terms. Having thus 
determined to place the country under martial law, and to 
procure the submission of the colonies by force of arms, 
the next important consideration was to procure the 
requisite force. The estimated number of men sufficient 
to carry out successfully the designs of the ministry, was 
twenty-eight thousand seamen, and a land force of fifty- 
five thousand men. 

This was a large force to raise within the brief space 
which the exigency of the case required, for the peace 
establishment at home was small enough already, and the 
delay in procuring volunteers, or waiting for the return 



302 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

of troops from foreign stations, might prove fatal to their 
plans. Ministers therefore resolved to hire soldiers of 
some of the German princes, and they at once appointed 
a commissioner for the purpose. Early in 1776, a treaty 
was concluded, and the Landgrave of Hesse- Cassel 
agreed to furnish twelve thousand one hundred and 
four men ; the Duke of Brunswick, four thousand and 
eighty-four ; the Prince of Hesse, six hundred and sixty- 
eight; the Prince ofWaldeck, six hundred and seventy; 
making in all, seventeen thousand five hundred and 
twenty-six. The masters of these mercenaries, per- 
ceiving the stern necessity which had driven the British 
government to this atrocious resort, in its endeavor to crush 
the spirit of freedom in its American colonies, extorted 
hard terms — terms which none but a desperate suitor for 
favor would have agreed to. It was stipulated that they 
were to receive seven pounds, four shillings and four 
pence sterling for each man, besides being relieved from 
the burden of maintaining them. In addition, the princes 
were to receive a certain stipend, amounting in all to one 
hundred and thirty-five thousand pounds sterling, or about 
six hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. And 
Great Britain further agreed to guaranty the dominions 
of those princes against foreign attacks during the absence 
of their soldiers. 

This hiring of the bone and sinew, and even the lives, 
of foreign troops — purchased assassins — to aid in en- 
slaving its own children, whose only crime was an irre- 
pressible aspiration for freedom, is the foulest blot upon 
the escutcheon of Great Britain, which its unholy warfare 
against us during the revolution produced. The best 
friends of Great Britain, in and out of Parliament, deeply 
deplored the measure ; and the opposition in the Na- 
tional Legislature, w : th a sincere concern for the fair fame 
of their country did all in their power to prevent the 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 303 

transaction. But Parliament, as if madly bent on the 
entire destruction of British honor, and on pulling down 
the very pillars of the Constitution, seconded the views 
of Ministers, and adopted the measure by an overwhelm- 
ing majority. 

For this act, the King and his Ministers were obliged 
to hear many home truths from statesmen in both Houses 
of Parliament. Among others, the Earl of Coventry 
inveighed most heartily against the employment of 
foreign mercenaries to fight the battles of England, even 
in a just war. He maintained that the war in question 
was an unnatural and unrighteous one, and, as such, 
would not terminate favorably to the oppressor. " Look 
on the map of the globe," said he ; " view Great Britain 
and North America; compare their extent; consider 
their soil, rivers, climate, and increasing population of 
the latter ; nothing but the most obstinate blindness and 
partiality can engender a serious opinion that such a 
country will long continue under subjection to this. 
The question is not, therefore, how we shall be able to 
realize a vain, delusive scheme of dominion, but how we 
shall make it the interest of the Americans to continue 
faithful allies and warm friends. Surely that can never 
be effected by fleets and armies. Instead of meditating 
conquest, and exhausting our strength in an ineffectual 
struggle, we should wisely, abandoning wild schemes of 
coercion, avail ourselves Df the only substantial benefit 
we can ever expect, the profits of an extensive com- 
merce, and the strong support of a firm and friendly 
alliance and compact for mutual defence and assistance." 

What blood and treasure would have been spared 
had such statesmanlike views prevailed in the British 
Parliament. But national pride was wounded, and its 
festerings produced relentless hate, whose counsels had 
no whispers of justice or of honorable peace*. " Large 



304 THE DECLARATION OP INDEPENDENCE 

armies of foreign mercenaries, to complete the work of 
death, desolation and tyranny, already begun/' were 
sent hither, and the odious Hessians (the general title 
given to those German troops) performed their first act 
in the bloody d v ama, in the Battle of Long Island, on the 
twenty-ninth ol August, 1776. 

XXVI. He has constrained our fellow -citizens, taken 
captive on Hie high seas, to bear arms against their 
country, to become the executioners of their friends and 
brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

About the last of December, 1775, the British Parlia- 
ment passed an act for prohibiting all trade and com- 
merce with the colonies, and authorizing the capture and 
condemnation, not only of all American vessels with their 
cargoes, but all other vessels found trading with the 
colonies, and the crews were to be treated, not as pri- 
soners, but as slaves. By a clause in the act, it was made 
lawful for the commander of a British vessel to take the 
masters, crews, and other persons, found in the captured 
vessels, and to put them on board any other British armed 
vessel, enter their names on the books of the same, and, 
from the time of such entry, such persons were to be con- 
sidered in the service of his majesty, to all intents and 
purposes, as though they had entered themselves volun- 
tarily on board such vessel* By this means, the Ameri- 
cans were compelled to fight even against their own 
friends and countrymen — " to become the executioners 
of their friends and brethren, or to fall by their hands." 
This barbarous act was loudly condemned on the floor 
of Parliament, as unworthy of a Christian people, a 
" refinement of cruelty unknown among savage nations,' 
and paralleled only " among pirates, the outlaws and ene 

* Pitkin, vol. i., p 357. 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 30t> 

mies of human society." But the act became law, and 
to the disgrace of Great Britain it was put in force. 

It was the provisions of this odious act which laid the 
British government under the necessity of providing a 
force to carry out its designs in America, which its re- 
sources in men were inadequate to do ; and ministers 
resorted to the foul measure of hiring German soldiers 
to fight their battles against their brethren here 

XXVII. He has excited domestic insurrections among us, 
and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our 
frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known 
rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all 
ages, sexes and conditions. 

Lord Dunmore, one of the most unpopular governors 
Virginia ever had, became involved in difficulties with the 
people, soon after his accession. Like too many of the 
native born Englishmen at that time, he regarded the 
colonists as inferior people, and instead of using concili* 
atory measures, which might have made his situation 
agreeable to himself, he maintained a haughty carriage 
and aristocratic reserve. These private matters would 
have been tolerated, had not his public acts partaken of 
the same spirit. He seemed to be exceedingly deficient 
in judgment, and by various acts of annoyance he greatly 
exasperated the people. At length they arose in arms in 
consequence of his removing the powder of the colonial 
magazine on board of a ship of war, and he was obliged 
to fly thither himself, with his family, for fear of personal 
injury. This was early in May, 1775, and during the 
summer and autumn he attempted to regain his lost power, 
All moderate attempts having failed, he resolved on a 
bolder and more cruel measure. He issued his procla- 
mation, and authoritatively summoned to his standard all 
capable of bearing arms ; and in that proclamation, as 
20 



506 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

well as through private emissaries, he offered freedom to 
the slaves if they would take up arms against their mas- 
ters. Thus he " excited domestic insurrection." 

In the spring of 1775, this same Governor Dunmore 
was an accomplice in, and an active promoter of, a scheme 
to " bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merci- 
less Indian savages." The plan adopted was to organize 
an active co-operation of all the various Indian tribes on 
the frontier, with the Tories. John Connelly, a Pennsyl- 
vanian, has th<^ honor of originating the plot ; and he found 
in Governor J>unmore a zealous coadjutor and liberal 
patron in the enterprise. Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh) 
was to be the place of rendezvous, and ample rewards 
were offered to the chiefs of the Indians, as well as to the 
>*iilitia captains, who should join their standard. 

In order to connect the plan, give it wider scope, 
secure more efficiency, and have higher sanction, a mes- 
senger was sent to Governor Gage, at Boston, then 
commander-in-chief of all the British forces in America. 
Gage entered heartily into the atrocious scheme, and 
gave Connelly a commission as Lieutenant-Colonel. He 
also sent an emissary named John Stuart, to the nation 
of the Cherokees on the borders of the Carolinas. General 
Carleton, governor of Canada, sent Colonel Johnson to 
the Indians of St. Francis, and others, belonging to the 
Six Nations, and in every case heavy bribes were offered. 
•Too well did these emissaries succeed, for during the 
summer hundreds of innocent old men, women, and 
young children, were butchered in cold blood upon the 
frontiers of Virginia and the Carolinas. 

This charge was true, not only at the time it was made 
in th3 Declaration of Independence, but on several subse- 
quent occasions it might with verity have been made. 
When Burgoyne prepared to invade the States from 
Canada, he, by express orders of ministers, put under 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 307 

arrns, and secured for the British service several tribes 
of Indians inhabiting the country between the Mohawk 
river and Lake Ontario. And just before, going to attack 
Ticonderoga, he gave a great war feast to the Indians, and 
issued a proclamation calling upon the. Americans to 
surrender or suffer the consequences of savage ferocity. 

The American Congress, in its Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, after asserting that " The History of the 
present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated 
injuries and usurpations, all having, in direct object, the 
establishment of absolute tyranny over these states,'' 
and submitting the foregoing charges as proofs of the 
truth of theh\declaration, they asserted: — 

First : That in every stage of these oppressions, we have 
petitioned for redress in the most humble terms. Our 
repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated 
injury. 

For ten long years, " in every stage of these oppres- 
sions," did the colonists " petition for redress in the most 
humble terms." It was done i>y the Colonial Congress 
which assembled in 1765, in consequence of the passage of 
the Stamp Act. They put forth a Declaration of Rights, 
the thirteenth section of which asserted, " That it is the 
right of the British subject in these colonies to petition the 
King, or either Hottee of Parliament." This right was 
denied by the colonial governors, claiming it exclusively 
for the assemblies in their legislative capacity. But acting' 
upon their declared right, that Congress sent a most humble 
petition to the King, setting fcrth the grievances which the 
acts for taxing the colonies imposed upon the people, and 
beseeching him to lay the subject before the Parliament 
and obtain redress for them. But this petition was un- 
heeded, as well as those of the popular provincial con- 
ventions, and " repeated injuries " were inflicted, in th« 



308 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

form of new and oppressive acts for taxing the colonists 
without their consent. 

The first Continental Congress, that convened in Sep- 
tember, 1774, humbly petitioned the King, and set forth 
the various measures of his government which bore 
heavily upon their prosperity and curtailed their rights 
as British subjects. The General Congress that met in 
May, the next year, also 6ent another humble petition to 
the King, but both were " answered only by repeated 
injuries." Instead of listening to their loyal importunities 
for redress, he deprived them in many cases of " trial by 
jury ;" he prepared to " transport them beyond seas, to 
be tried for pretended offences ;" he " abolished the free 
system of English laws in a neighboring .province ;" he 
took away their charters, abolished their " most valuable 
laws," and "altered, fundamentally, the forms" of theii 
government ; he " plundered their seas, ravaged their 
coasts, burnt their towns, and destroyed the lives of their 
people ;" and he transported " large armies of foreign 
mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, 
and tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cruelty 
and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous 
ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation." 
Secondly : We have not been wanting in attention to 
our British brethren. 

This assertion the journals of the Continental Congress, 
and the proceedings of the British Parliament, fully coi- 
roborate. The first address put forth by the Continental 
CDngress, in 1774, was to the' pcojile of Great Britain, in 
which the most affectionate terms of brotherhood, ex- 
pressive of the strongest feelings which the ties of con- 
sanguinity could produce, were used. They concluded 
their address by expressing a hope " that the magnanim- 
ity and justice of the British nation will furnish a parlia- 
ment of such wisdom, independence, and public spirit, as 



HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED. 309 

may save the violated rights of the whole empire from 
the devices of wicked ministers and evil counsellors, 
whether in or out. of office ; and thereby restore that 
harmony, friendship, and fraternal affection, between all 
the inhabitants of his majesty's kingdoms and territo- 
ries, 6o ardently wished for by every true and honest 
American." 

The second Continental Congress, in 1775, sent an 
affectionate address to the people of Ireland, in which 
they thanked them for the friendly disposition which they 
had always shown toward Americans ; expressed a strong 
sympathy for them, on account of the grievances which 
the inhabitants of that fertile island suffered at the hands 
of the same arbitrary rulers, and closed with a " hope 
that the patient abiding of the meek may not always be 
forgotten ;" and that God would " grant that the iniqui- 
tous schemes for extirpating liberty from the British 
empire might be soon defeated." 

But, not only were British rulers unmindful of their 
petitions and of their remonstrances ; their " British 
brethren" also were deaf to the " voice of justice and con- 
sanguinity;" and the colonists were obliged to acquiesce 
in the necessity which denounced their separation ; and 
they held them, as they held the rest of mankind, " en»« 

MIES IN WAR IN PEACE, FRIENDS." 



THE CONFEDERATION, 



The Declaration of the representatives of the united 
colonies of North America, in General Congress assem- 
bled, that "these colonies are, and of right ought to be, 
free and independent states, " was but the initial act in 
the great work of founding a free republic out of a dis- 
membered portion of one of the mightiest empires of the 
earth. It was an -easy matter to declare the states free, 
but they well knew it would be a laborious task to support 
that declaration, and consummate the work thus begun. 
Already fleets were hovering upon our coasts, and 
armies traversed our provinces, with the dire purpose of 
quelling rebellion by fire and sword, and all the vast ini- 
quities of war. At the very time the Declaration was 
made, a British squadron was near our coast, bearing 
thousands of hired mercenaries, some of them veterans 
from the vast armies of Frederick the Great, all eager to 
win the laurels of glory or the gold of plunder, in the 
exercise of their desolating profession. Combined with 
these foes from without, were the more dreaded foes 
within — those who, through princif)le or interest, ad- 
hered to the Crown. They consisted chiefly of the 
timid, the time-serving, the ambitious, and the indolent, 
who feared British power, courted its caresses, sought 
the preferments it could bestow, or loved ease better 
than freedom. This class was not small nor weak, but 
by its secret treacheries, or open resistance, it weakened 
the bond of the American union, and greatly strength- 
ened the royal arm. 

With such a great work before them — with such beset 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 311 

ments in the way — by such dangers surrounded — it is 
no wonder that great doubt, and anxiety, and dread, per- 
vaded the minds of the people, and caused American 
legislators to desire a more tangible bond of union than 
a Federal Congress, and a Federal Army. The various 
state governments were in utter confusion, and in their 
practical operations they harmonized in few things, ex- 
cept in making provisions for the army ; and even this 
paramount claim was often so neglected by particular 
states as almost to paralyze the military movements. 
Royal governments in all the colonies had been over- 
turned, and the people, in spontaneous assemblies, col- 
lected the best fragments together and formed provincial 
congresses, in which they vested local governmental 
powers. But these were perceived to be but broken 
reeds to depend upon in the great work of the revolu- 
tion yet to be performed ; and the statesmen of that dark 
hour, feeling the necessity of a central power, regarded 
a confederation of the several states, with Congress as a 
controlling head, a measure essential to the perpetuity, 
not only of their efforts to become free, but of their very 
existence. 

As early as July, 1775, that far-sighted and clear- 
headed statesman, Doctor Franklin, submitted to the 
consideration of Congress a sketch of articles of con- 
federation between the colonies, limiting the duration of 
their vitality to the time when reconciliation with Great 
Britain should take place ; or in the event of the failure 
of that desirable result, to be perpetual. At that time, 
Congress seemed to have no fixed plans for the future — 
the teeming present, with all its vast and novel concerns, 
engrossed their whole attention ; and Doctor Franklin's 
plan seems not to have been discussed at all in the 
National Council. But when a declaration of inde- 
pendence was proposed, that idea alone suggested the 
necessity of a confederation of the states to carry forward 



312 ARTICLES QE CONFEDERATION. * 

the work to a successful consummation. Congress, there- 
fore, on the eleventh of June, 1776, resolved that a com- 
mittee should be appointed to prepare, and properly 
digest, a form of confederation to be entered into by the 
several states. The committee appointed under the 
resolution consisted of one delegate from each state. 
John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, (who was opposed tc 
the Declaration of Independence, and would have voted 
against it, if he had been present,) was chosen chairman, 
and through him the committee reported a draft of a ni- 
cies of confederation, on the twelfth of July. Almost 
daily debates upon the subject ensued until the twen- 
tieth of August, when the report was laid aside, and was 
not taken up again for consideration until the seventh 
of April, 1777. In the meanwhile, the several states had 
adopted constitutions for their respective government, 
and Congress was practically acknowledged the supreme 
head in all matters appertaining to the war, public 
finances, &c. It emitted bills of credit, or paper money, 
appointed foreign ministers, and opened negotiations 
with foreign governments. 

From the seventh of April, until the fifteenth of 
November following, the subject was debated two or 
three times a week, and several amendments were made. 
As the Confederation might be a permanent bond of Un- 
ion, of course local interests were considered prospec- 
tively. If the union had been designed to be temporary, 
to meet the exigencies arising from the state of war in 
which the colonies then were, local questions could hardly 
have had weight enough to have elicited debate; but 
such was not the case, and of course the sagacious mer, 
who were then in Congress, looked beyond the present, 
and endeavored to legislate accordingly. From the 
seventh of October, until the fifteenth of November, 
the debates upon it were almost daily, and the conflict- 
ing interests of the several states were 



ARTICLES OP CONFEDERATION. 313 

into view by the different speakers. On that day, the fol- 
lowing draft, containing all of the amendments, was 
laid before Congress, and after a spirited debate was 
adopted : — 

TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, WE, THE 
UNDERSIGNED, DELEGATES OF THE STATES AFFIXED TO 
OUR NAMES, SEND GREETING. 

Whereas, the delegates of the United States of Amer- 
ica in Congress assembled, did, on the fifteenth day of 
November, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven 
hundred and seventy-seven, and in the second year of the 
independence of America, agree to certain articles of 
confederation and perpetual union between t}ie States of 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, and 
Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, in the 
words following, viz.: — 

Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the 
States of Neio Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland y 
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 

Article 1. The style of this confederacy shall be, " The 
United States of America." 

• Article 2. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, 
and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and 
rii^ht, which is not by this confederation expressly dele- 
gated to the United States in Congress- assembled. 

Article 3. The said states hereby severally enter into 
a firm league of friendship with each other for their com- 
mon defence, the security of their liberties, ai.'d their mu- 



314 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 

tual and general welfare ; binding themselves to assist 
each other against all force offered to, or attacks made 
upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sove- 
reignty, Irade, or any other pretence whatever. 

Article 4 The better to secure and perpetuate mu- 
tual friendship, and intercourse among the people of the 
different states in this Union, the free inhabitants of each 
of these states, paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from 
justice excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges and im- 
munities of free citizens in the several states ; and the 
people of each stale shall have free ingress and regress 
'x) and from any other state, and shall enjoy therein all the 
privileges of trade and commerce subject to the same 
duties, impositions, and restrictions, as the inhabitants 
thereof respectively, provided that such restrictions shall 
not extend so far as to prevent the removal of property 
imported into any state to any other state, of which the 
owner is an inhabitant ; provided also, that no imposition, 
duties, or restriction," shall be laid by any state on the 
property of the United States or either of them. 

If any person guilty of or charged with treason, felony, 
01 other high misdemeanor, in any state, shall flee from 
justice, and be found in any of the United States, he shall 
upon demand of the governor or executive power of the 
state from which he fled, be delivered up and removed to 
the state having jurisdiction of his offence. 

Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these 
states to the records, acts, and judicial proceedings of the 
courts and magistrates of every other state. 

Article 5. For the more convenient management of 
the general interests of the United States, delegates shall 
be annually appointed in such manner as the legislature 
of each state shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first 
Monday in November, in every year, with a power re- 
eerved to each state to recall its delegates or any of them 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 315 

at any time within the year, and to send others in their 
stead for the remainder of the year. 

No state shall be represented in Congress by less than 
two, nor by more than seven members ; and no person 
shall be capable of being a delegate for more than three 
years in any term of six years ; nor shall any person, 
being a delegate, be capable of holding any office under 
the United States, for which he, or another for his benefit 
receives any salary, fees, or emoluments of any kind. 

Each stat > shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting 
of the states, and while they act as members of the com- 
mittee of the states. 

In determining questions in the United States in Con- 
gress assembled, each state shall have one vote. 

Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be 
impeached or questioned in any court or place out of 
Congress ; and the members of Congress shall he protect- 
ed in their persons from arrests and imprisonments, during 
the time of their going to and from an'd attendance on Con- 
gress, except for treason, felony or breach of the peace. 

Article 6. No state, without the consent of the United 
States in Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to 
or receive any embassy from, or enter into any conference 
agreement, alliance, or treaty, with any king, prince, or 
state ; nor shall any person holding any office of profit or 
trust under the United States, or any of them, accept of 
any present, emolument, office or title of any kind what- 
ever, from any king, prince, or foreign state ; nor shall 
the United States in Congress assembled, or any of them, 
grant any title of nobility. 

No two or more states shall enter into any treaty, con- 
federation, or alliance whatever, between them, without 
the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, 
specifying accurately the purposes for which the same is 
to be entered nto and how long it shall continue. 



316 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 

No state «hall lay any imposts or duties, which may 
interfere with any stipulations in treaties entered into by 
the United States in Congress assembled, with any king, 
prince, or state, in pursuance of any treaties already pro- 
p jsed by Congress to the courts of France and Spain. 

No vessel-of-war shall be kept up in time of peace by 
any state, except such number only as shall be deemed 
necessary by the United States in Congress assembled for 
the defence of such state or its trade ; nor shall any body 
of forces be kept up by any state in time of peace, ex- 
cept such number only as in the judgment of the United 
States in Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite 
to garrison the forts necessary for the defence of such 
state ; but every state shall always keep up a well-regu- 
lated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and ac- 
coutred, and shall provide and have constantly ready for 
use, in public stores, a due number of field-pieces and 
tents, and a proper quantity of arms, ammunition, and 
camp equipage. 

No state shall engage in any war without the consent 
of the United States in Congress assembled, unless such 
state be actually invaded by enemies or shall have re- 
ceived certain advice of a resolution being formed by some 
nation of Indians to invade such state, and the danger is 
so imminent as not to admit of a delay till the United 
States in Congress assembled can be consulted ; nor shall 
any state grant commissions to any ships or vessels-of-war, 
nor letters of marque or reprisal, except it be after a 
declaration of war by the United States in Congress as- 
sembled, and then only against the kingdom or state, and 
the subjects thereof, against which war has been so de- 
clared, and under such regulations as shall be established 
by the United States in Congress assembled, unless such 
state be infested by pirates, in wnich case vessels-of-war 
may be fitted out *br that occasion, and kept so long as 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 317 

* 

the danger shall continue, or until the United States in 
Congress assembled shall determine otherwise. 

Aticle 7. When land forces are raised by any state 
for the common defence, all officers of or under the rank 
of colonel, shall be appointed by the legislature of each 
6tate respectively, by whom such forces shall be raised 
or in such manner as such state shall direct, and all vacan- 
cies shall be filled up by the state which first made the 
appointment. 

Article 8. All charges of war, and all other expenses 
that shall be incurred for the common defence or gene- 
ral welfare, and allowed by the United States in Congress 
assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, 
which shall be supplied by the several states in propor- 
tion to the value of all land within each state granted to 
or surveyed for any person, as such land and the buildings 
and improvements thereon shall be estimated according 
to such mode as the United States in Congress assembled 
shall from time to time direct and appoint. 

The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and 
levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures 
of the several states, within the time agreed upon by the 
United States in Congress assembled. 

Article 9. The United States in Congress assembled 
shall have the sole and exclusive right and power of de- 
termining on peace and war, except in the cases men- 
tioned in the sixth article — of sending and receiving am 
bassadors — entering into treaties and alliances ; provided 
thut>no treaty of commerce shall be made whereby the 
legislative power of the respective states shall be re- 
strained from imposing such imposts and duties on 
foreigners as their own people are subjected to, or from 
prohibiting exportation or importation of any species of 
goods or commodities whatsoever — of establishing rules 
for deciding in all cases, what captures on land or water 



318 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 

fih all be legal, and in what manner prizes taken by land 
or naval forces in the service of the United States shall bo 
divided or appropriated — of granting letters of marque 
and reprisal in times of peace — appointing courts for the 
trial of piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, 
and establishing courts for receiving and determining 
finally appeals in all cases of captures : provided, that 
no member of Congress shall be appointed a judge of any 
of the said courts. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall also be 
the last resort on appeal in all disputes and differences 
now subsisting or that hereafter may arise between two 
or more states concerning boundary, jurisdiction or any 
other cause whatever ; which authority shall always be 
exercised in the manner following : whenever the legisla- 
tive or executive authority or lawful agent of any state in 
controversy with another shall present a petition to Con- 
gress, stating the matter in question, and praying for a 
hearing, notice thereof shall be given by order of Con- 
gress to the legislative or executive authority of the 
other state in controversy, and a day assigned for 
the appearance of the parties, by their lawful agents, 
who shall then be directed to appoint by joint consent 
commissioners or judges to constitute a court for hear- 
ing and determining the matter in question; but if they 
cannot agree, Congress shall name three persons out 
of each of the United States, and from the list of such 
persons each party shall alternately strike out one, the 
petitioners beginning, until the number shall be reduced 
to thirteen ; and from that number not less than seven nor 
more than nine names, as Congress shall direct, shall, in 
in the presence of Congress, be drawn out by lot ; and 
the persons whose names shall be so drawn, or any five 
of them, snail be commissioners or judges, to hear and 
finally determine the controversy, so always as a major 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 319 

part of the judges, who shall hear the cause, shall agree 
in the determination ; and if either party shall neglect to 
attend at the day appointed, without showing reasons 
which Congress shall judge sufficient, or being present 
shall refuse to strike, the Congress shall proceed to 
nominate three persons out of each state, and the secre- 
tary of Congress shall strike in behalf of such party ab- 
sent or refusing ; and the judgment and sentence of the 
court to be appointed in the manner before prescribed, 
shall be final and conclusive ; and if any of the par- 
ties shall refuse to submit to the authority of such 
court, or to appear, or defend their claim or cause, the 
court shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce sentence 
or judgment, which shall in like manner be final and de- 
cisive, the judgment or sentence and other proceedings 
being in either case transmitted to Congress, and lodged 
among the acts of Congress for the security of the par- 
ties concerned ; provided, that every commissioner, before 
he sits in judgment, shall take an oath, to be administered 
by one of the judges of the supreme or superior court of 
the state, where the cause shall be tried, " well and truly 
to hear and determine the matter in question, according 
to the best of his judgment, without favor, affection, or 
hope of reward :" provided also, that no state shall be 
deprived of territory for the benefit of the United States. 
All controversies concerning the private right of soil, 
claimed under different grants of two or more states, 
whose jurisdiction as they may respect such lands, and the 
states which passed such grants are adjusted, the said 
grants or either of them being at the same time claimed 
to have originated antecedent to such settlement of juris- 
diction, shall, on the petition of either party to the Con- 
gress of the United States, be finally determined as near 
as may be, in the same manner as is before prescribed 
for deciding disputes respecting territorial jurisdiction 
between different states. 



d20 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall also 
have the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating 
the alloy and value of coin struck by their own authority, 
or by that of the respective states — fixing the standard of 
weights and measures throughout the United States — 
regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the 
Indians not members of any of the states ; provided that 
the legislative right of any state within its own limits be 
not infringed or violated — establishing and regulating post- 
offices from one state to another througiout all the Uni- 
ted States, and exacting such postage on the papers pass- 
ing through the same, as may be requisite to defray the 
expenses of the said office — appointing all officers of the 
land forces in the service of the United'States excepting 
regimental officers — appointing all the officers of the 
naval forces, and commissioning all officers whatever in 
the service of the United States — making rules for the 
government and regulation of the said land and naval 
forces and directing their operations. 

The United States in Congress assembled shall lmve 
authority to appoint a committee to sit in the recess of 
Congress, to be denominated " a committee of the states," 
and to consist of one delegate from each state ; and to ap- 
point such other committees and civil offices as may be 
necessary for managing the general affairs of the United 
States, under their direction — to appoint one of their 
number to preside, provided that no person be allowed 
to serve in the office of president more than one year in 
any term of three years — to ascertain the necessary sums 
of money to be raised for the service of the United States, 
and to appropriate and apply the same for defraying the 
public expenses — to borrow money or emit bills on the 
credit of the United States, transmitting every half year 
to the respective states an account of the sums of money 
so borrowed or emitted — to build and equip a navy — 



ARTICLES OP CONFEDERATION. 321 

to agree upon the number of land forces, and to make 
requisitions from eacli state for its quota, in proportion to 
the number of white inhabitants in such state : which 
requisition shall be binding, and thereupon, the legislature 
of each state shall appoint the regimental officers, raise 
the men, and clothe, arm, and equip them, in a soldier- 
like manner, at the expense of the United States ; and the 
officers and men so clothed, armed and equipped, shall 
march to the place appointed, and within the time agreed 
on by the United States in Congress assembled : but if the 
United States in Congress assembled, shall on considera- 
tion of circumstances judge proper that any state should not 
raise men or should raise a smaller number than its quota 
and that any other state should raise a greater number of 
men than the quota thereof, such extra number shall be 
raised, officered, clothed, armed, and equipped, in the same 
manner as the quota of such state, unless the legislature of 
such state shall judge that such extra number can not 
safely be spared out of the same ; in which case they shall 
raise, officer, clothe, arm and equip, as many of such 
extra number as they judge can be safely spared. And 
the officers and men so clothed, armed and equipped, 
shall march to the place appointed, and within the time 
agreed on by the United States in Congress assembled. 
The United States in Congress assembled shall never 
engage in a war, nor grant letters of marque and reprisal 
in time of peace, nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor 
coin money, nor regulate the value thereof, nor ascertain 
the sums and expenses necessary for the defence and 
welfare of the United States or any of them, nor emit 
bills, nor borrow money on the credit of the United 
States, nor appropriate money, nor agree upon the num- 
ber of vessels-of-war to be built or purchased, or the 
number of land or sea forces to be raised, nor ap- 
point a commander-in-chief of the army or navy unles* 
21 



322 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 

nine states assent to the same ; nor shall a question or 
any other point, except for adjourning from d«ay to day, 
be determined unless by the votes of a majority of the 
United States in Congress assembled. 

The Congress of the United States shall have power 
to adjourn to any time within the year, and to any place 
within the United States, so that no period of adjourn- 
ment be for a longer duration than the space of six 
months ; and shall publish the journal of their proceed- 
ings monthly, except such parts thereof relating to trea- 
ties, alliances, or military operations, as in their judgment 
require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the delegates 
of' each state on any question, shall be entered on the 
journal when it is desired by any delegate ; and the dele- 
gates of a state or any of them, at his or their request, 
shall be furnished with a transcript of the said journal, 
except such parts as are above excepted, to lay before 
the legislatures of the several states. 

Article 10. The committee of the states, or any nine 
of them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of 
Congress, such of the powers of Congress as the United 
States in Congress assembled, by the consent of nine 
states, shall from time to time, think expedient to vest 
them. with ; provided that no power be delegated to the 
said committee, for the exercise of which, by the articles 
of confederation, the voice of nine states in the Congress 
of the United States assembled is requisite. 

Article 11. Canada, acceding to this confederation, 
and joining in the measures of the United States, shall be 
admitted into, and entitled to, all the advantages of this 
Union ; but no other colony shall be admitted into the 
same, unless such admission be agreed to by nine states. 

Article 12. All bills of credit emitted, moneys bor- 
rowed, and debts contracted, by or under the authority 
of Congress, before the assembling of the United States, 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 323 

in aursuance of the present confederation, shall be deemed 
and considered as a charge against the United States, for 
payment and satisfaction whereof the said United States 
and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged. 

Article 13. Every state shall abide by the decision of 
the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions 
which, by this confederation, are submitted to them. And' 
the articles of this confederation shall be inviolably ob- 
served by every state, and the Union shall be perpetual ; 
nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in 
any of them, unless such alteration be agreed to in a Con- 
gress of the United States, and be afterward confirmed 
by the legislature of every state. 

And whereas it has pleased the great Governor of the 
world to incline the hearts of the legislatures we respec- 
tively represent in Congress, to approve of and to author- 
ize us to ratify the said articles of confederation and per- 
petual Union : know ye, that we, the undersigned dele- 
gates, by virtue of the power arid authority to us given for 
that purpose, do, by these presents, in the name and in 
behalf of our respective constituents, fully and entirely 
ratify and confirm each and every of the said articles of 
confederation and perpetual Union, and all and singular 
the matters and things therein contained ; and we do fur- 
ther solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respect- 
ive constituents, that they shall abide by the determina- 
tions of the United States in Congress 'assembled, on all 
questions which, by the said confederation, are submitted 
to them ; and that the articles thereof shall be inviolably 
observed by the states we respectively represent; and 
that the union oe perpetual. 

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands, in 
Congress. Done at Philadelphia, in the state of Penn 
6Ylvaria, the ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord 



324 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 



one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, and in the 
third year of the independence of America. 



New Hampshire, 
josiah bartlett, 
John Wentworth, jr. 
Massachusetts Bay, 
John Hancock, 
Samuel Adams, 
Elbridge Gerry, 
Francis Dana, 
James Lovell, 
Samuel Holten, 

Rhode Island. 
William Ellery, 
Henry Marchant, 
John Collins. 

Connecticut. 
Roger Sherman, - 
Samuel Huntington, 
Oliver Wolcott, 
Titus Hosmer, 
Andrew Adams. 
New York. 
James Duane, 
Francis Lewis, 
William Duer,* 
gouverneur morris. 

New Jersey. 
John Witherspoon, 
Nati*. Scudder. 

Pennsylvania. 
RoiiERT Morris, 

DaNIEL ROBERDEAU, 



Jonathan Bayard Smith, 
William Clingan, 
Joseph Reed. 

Delaware. 
Thomas M'Kean, 
John Dickinson, 
Nicholas Van Dyke. 

Maryland. 
John Hanson, 
Daniel Carroll. 

Virginia. 
Richard Henry Lee, 
John Banister, 
Thomas Adams, 
John Harvie, 
Francis Lightfoot Lee. 

North Carolina. 
John Penn, 
Constable Harnett, 
John Williams. 

South Carolina. 
Henry Laurens, 
William Henry Draytom 
John Matthews, 
Richard Hutson, 
Thomas Heyward, jh. 

Georgia. 
John Walton, 
Edward Telfair, 
Edward Langwortht 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 325 

After the Articles of Confederation were adopted by 
Congress, that body directed a copy of them to be sent 
to the speakers of the various state legislatures to be laid 
before them for action. They were accompanied by a 
communication, requesting the several legislatures, in 
case they approved of them, to instruct their delegates in 
Congress to vote for a ratification of them, which last act 
should be final and conclusive On the twenty -ninth of 
November, a committee of three was appointed to pro- 
cure the translation of the Articles of Confederation into 
the French language ; and also to prepare and report an 
address to the people of Canada, urging them to become 
a. portion of the confederacy. 

The letter which accompanied the Articles of Con- 
federation when they were sent to the several state 
legislatures, was in the form of an urgent appeal for im- 
mediate and united action. A direful necessity called for 
some strong bond of union, for the clangor of arms was 
heard on every side. Foes without, and traitc "s within, 
were everywhere sowing the seeds of jealousy between 
the states, and using every effort to sunder the ligaments 
of a common interest and repress a common aspiration 
which united them. It was easily foreseen that the con- 
flicting interests of thirteen distinct states would neces- 
sarily clash, and that the idea of sovereignty which each 
possessed would interpose many objections to a general 
confederation, such as was proposed. Therefore, the 
letter was an argumentative one, and endeavored to show 
them that the pkm proposed was the best which could be 
adapted to the circumstances of all. It concluded with 
the following impressive admonition : — 

" We have reason to regret the time which has elapsed 
in preparing this plan for consideration. With additional 
solicitude, we look forward to that which must be neces- 
sarily spent before it san be ratified. Every motive 



326 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 

loudly calls upon us to hasten its conclusion. More than 
any other consideration it will confound our foreign 
enemies, defeat the flagitious practices of the disaffected, 
strengthen and confirm our friends, support our public 
credit, restore the value of our money, enable us to main- 
tain our fleets and armies, and add weight and respect to 
our councils at home, and to our treaties abroad. In 
short, this salutary measure can no longer be deferred. 
It seems essential to our very existence as a free people ; 
and without it, we may soon be constrained to bid adieu 
to independence, to liberty, and to safety — blessings 
which from the justice of our cause, and the favor of our 
Almighty Creator visibly manifested in our protection, 
we have reason to expect, if in an humble dependence 
on his divine providence, we strenuously exert the means 
which are placed in our power." 

Notwithstanding this pathetic appeal, and the general 
feeling that something must be speedily done, the state 
legislatures were slow to adopt the Articles. In the first 
place, they did not seem to accord with the prevailing 
sentiment of the people, as set forth in the Declaration 
of Independence; and in many things that Declaration 
and the Articles of Confederation were manifestly anti- 
podent. The former was based upon declared right ; the 
foundation of the latter was asserted power. The former 
was based upon a superintending Providence, and the 
inalienable lights of man ; the latter rested upon the 
"sovereignty of declared power — one ascending for the 
foundation of human government, to the laws of nature 
and of nature's God, written upon the heart of man — the 
other resting upon the basis of human institutions, and 
prescriptive law, and colonial charters."* Again, the sys- 
tem of representation proposed, was highly objectionable, 

* John Quincy Adams' Jubilee Discourse, 1839. 



ARTICLES OP CONFEDERATION. 327 

because each state was entitled to the same voice in 
Congress, whatever might be the difference in popula- 
tion. But the most objectionable feature of all was, that 
the question of the limits of the several states, and also in 
whom was vested the control or possession of the Crown- 
lands, was not only unadjusted, but wholly unnoticed. 
These and other defects, caused most of the states to 
hesitate at first, to adopt the Articles, and several of them 
for a long time utterly refused to accept them. 

On the twenty-second of June, 1778, Congress pro- 
ceeded to consider the objections of the states to the Arti- 
cles of Confederation, and on the twenty-seventh of the 
same month, a form of ratification was adopted and 
ordered to be engrossed upon parchment, with a view 
that the same should be signed by such delegates as were 
instructed so to do by their respective legislatures. 

On the ninth of July, the delegates of New Hamp- 
shire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New 
York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and South Carolina, signed 
the Articles. The delegates from New Jersey, Delaware 
and Maryland were not yet empowered to ratify and 
sign. Georgia and North Carolina were not represented, 
and the ratification of New York was conditional that all 
the other states should ratify. The delegates from North 
Carolina signed the articles on the twenty-first of July, 
those of Georgia on the twenty -fourth of the same month, 
those of New Jersey on the twenty-sixth of November, 
and those of Delaware on the twenty-second of February 
and fifth of May, 1779. Maryland still firmly refused to 
ratify, until the question of the conflicting claims of the 
TJnion and of the separate states to the Crown-lands, 
should be fully adjusted. This point was finally settled 
by cessions of the claiming states to the United States, 
of all the unsettled and unappropriated lands for the bene 
fit of the whole Union. This cession of the Crown-lands 



328 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 

to the Union, originated the Territorial System, and the 
erection of the North Western Territory into a distinct 
government similar to the existing states, having a local 
legislature of its own. The insuperable objection of 
Maryland having been removed by the settlement of this 
question, her delegates signed the Articles of Confedera- 
tion on the first day of March, 1781, four years and four 
months after they were adopted by Congress. By this 
act of Maryland, they became the organic law of the 
Union, and on the second of March, Congres? wsembied 
under the new powers. 



THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 



It was early perceived that the Articles of Confedera- 
ti >ti conferred powers upon Congress quite inadequate to 
the objects of an effective National Government. That 
body, according to the terms of those Articles, possessed 
no power to liquidate debts incurred during the war,* it 
had the privilege only of recommending to the several 
States, the payment thereof. This recommendation was 
tardily complied wilh,t and Congress possessed no power 
to compel the States to obey its mandates. To a great 
extent, the people lost all regard for the authority of 
Congress, and the commercial affairs of the country be- 
came wretchedly deranged. In truth, everything seemed 
to be tending toward utter chaos soon after peace in 1783, 
and the leading minds of the Revolution, in view of in- 
creasing and magnified evils, and the glaring defects of 
the Articles of Confederation, were turned to a consider- 
ation of a plan for a closer union of the states, and for a 
general government founded on the principles of the 
Declaration of Independence, from which the Confedera- 
tion in question widely departed. 

The sagacious mind of Washington perceived with 
intense anxiety the tendency toward ruin of that fair 
fabric which his prowess had helped to rear, and he took 
the initial step toward the adoption of measures which 

* The g.-meral government at the close of the Revolution, was burdened with 
a foreign debt of eight millions of dollars, and a domestic debt of about thirty 
millions, due to the army and to other American citizens. 

t During fourteen months, only $482,890 were paid into the public treasury 
and the foreign interest was paid by a fresh loan from Holland. 



330 CONSTITUTION 0/ THE UNITED STATES. 

finally resulted in the formation of the present Constitu- 
tion of the United States. Washington had contemplated 
a scheme for uniting the Potomac with the Ohio, and 
through his influence, the legislatures of Virginia and 
Maryland were induced to send commissioners to Alex- 
andria in March, 1785, to deliberate upon the subject. 
During their stay at Mount Vernon they devised another 
commission to establish a general tariff on imports, and 
to mature other commercial regulations. This conven- 
tion was held at Annapolis, in September, 1786, but only 
five states were represented — Virginia, Delaware, Penn- 
sylvania, New Jersey and New York.* The chief ob- 
ject of the convention was to consult on the best means 
of remedying the defects of the Federal government. 
The delegates met on the eleventh, and by a unanimous 
vote, chose John Dickinson chairman. After a full inter- 
change of sentiments, they agreed that a committee 
should be appointed to prepare a draft of a report to be 
made to the legislatures of the several states then repre- 
sented. On the fourteenth of September, the following 
report was submitted : — 

To the honorable the legislatures of Virginia, Delaware, 
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, the commis- 
sioners from the said states respectively, assembled at 
Annapolis, humbly beg leave to report : — 
That, pursuant to their several appointments, they met 
at Annapolis, in the state of Maryland, on the eleventh 
day of September instant, and having proceeded to a 
communication of their powers, they found that the states 
of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, had, in sub- 

* The names of the members of the Convention were as follows : — New York, 
Alexander Hamilton, Egbert Benson ; New Jersey, Abraham Clark, William C. 
Houston, James Schureman ; Pennsylvania, Tench Coxe ; Delaware, George Read, 
John Dickinson, Richard Basset ; Virginia, Edmund Randolph, James Madison 
jr.. St. George Tucker. 



CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 331 

stance, and nearly in the same terms, authorized their 
respective commissioners "to meet such commissioners 
as were or might be appointed by the other states in the 
Union, at such time and place as should be agreed upon 
by the said commissioners, to take into consideration the 
trade and commerce of the United States, to consider 
how far a uniform system in their commercial intercourse 
and regulations might be necessary to their common in- 
terest and permanent harmony, and to report to the several 
states such an act relative to this great object, as, when 
unanimously ratified by them, would enable the United 
States, in Congress assembled, effectually to provide for 
the same." 

That the state of Delaware had given similar powers 
to their commissioners, with this difference only, that the 
act to be framed in virtue of these powers, is required to 
be reported " to the United States, in Congress assem- 
bled, to be agreed to by them, and confirmed by the 
legislature of every state." 

That the state of New Jersey had enlarged the object 
of their appointment, empowering their commissioners 
" to consider how far a uniform system in their commer- 
cial regulations, and other important matters, might, be 
necessary to the common interest and permanent harmony 
of the several states ;" and to report such an act on the 
subject, as, when ratified by them, " would enable the 
United States, in Congress assembled, effectually to pro* 
vide for the exigencies of the Union." 

That appointments of commissioners have also been 
made by the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island, and North Carolina, none of whom, how- 
ever, have attended : but, that no information has been 
received by your commissioners of any appointment 
having been made by the states of Connecticut, Mary* 
land, South Carolina, or Georgia. 



332 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 

That the express terms of the powers to your comh»fc,» 
sioners supposing a deputation from all the states, and 
having for object the trade and commerce of the United 
States, your commissioners did not conceive it advisable 
to proceed on the business of their mission under the cir- 
cumstances of so partial and defective a representation. 

Deeply impressed, however, with the magnitude and 
importance of the object confided to them on this occa- 
sion, your commissioners cannot forbear to indulge an 
expression of their earnest and unanimous wish, that 
speedy measures may be taken to effect a general meet- 
ing of the states, in a future convention, for the same and 
such other purposes as the situation of public affairs may 
be found to require. 

If, in expressing this wish, or in intimating any other 
sentiment, your commissioners should seem to exceed the 
strict bounds of their appointment, they entertain a full 
confidence, that a conduct dictated by an anxiety for the 
welfare of the United States, will not fail to receive an 
indulgent construction. 

In this persuasion, your commissioners submit an 
opinion, that the idea of extending the powers of their 
deputies to other objects than those of commerce, which 
has been adopted by the state of New Jersey, was an 
improvement on the original plan, and will deserve to be 
incorporated into that of a future convention. They are 
the more naturally led to this conclusion, as, in the course 
of their reflections on the subject, they have been induced 
to think that the power of regulating trade is of such com- 
prehensive extent, and will enter so far into the general 
system of the federal government, that to give it efficacy, 
and to obviate questions and doubts concerning its pre- 
cise, nature and limits, may require a correspondent ad« 
justment of other parts of the federal system. 

That there a^e important defects in the system of the 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 333 

federal government, is acknowledged by the acts of all 
those states which have concurred in the present meet- 
ing ; that the defects, upon a closer examination, may be 
found greater and more numerous than even these acts 
imply, is at least so far probable, from the embarrass- 
ments which characterize the present state of our national 
affairs, foreign and domestic, as may reasonably be sup- 
posed to merit a deliberate and candid discussion, in some 
mode which will unite the sentiments and councils of all 
the states. In the choice of the mode, your commis- 
sioners are of opinion that a convention of deputies from 
the different states, for the special and sole purpose of 
entering into this investigation, and digesting a plan for 
supplying such defects as may be discovered to exist, will 
be entitled to a preference, from considerations which will 
occur without being particularized. 

Your commissioners decline an enumeration of those 
national circumstances on which their opinion respecting 
the propriety of a future convention, with more enlarged 
powers, is founded ; as it would be a useless intrusion of 
facts and observations, most of which have been fre- 
quently the subject of public discussion, and none of 
which can havelfescaped the penetration of those to whom 
they would, in this instance, be addressed. They are, 
however, of a nature so serious, as, in the view of your 
commissioners, to render the situation of the United 
States delicate and critical, calling for an exertion of the 
united virtue and wisdom of all the members of the con- 
federacy. 

Under this impression, your commissioners, with the 
most respectful deference, beg leave to suggest their 
unanimous conviction, that it may essentially tend to ad- 
vance the interests of the Union, if the states, by whom 
they have been respectively delegated, would themselves 
concur, and use Jieir endeavors to procure the concur- 



334 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

rence of the other states, in the appointment of commis- 
sioners, to meet at Philadelphia, on the second Monday 
in May next, to take into consideration the situation of 
the United States, to devise such further provisions as 
shall appear to them necessary, to render the constitution 
of the federal government adequate to the exigencies of 
the Union ; and to report such an act for that purpose, to 
the United States, in Congress assembled, as, when agreed 
to by them, and afterward confirmed by the legislature 
of every state, will effectually provide for the same. 

Though your commissioners could not, with propriety, 
address these observations and sentiments to any but the 
states they have the honor to represent, they h*»*"#» never- 
theless concluded, from motives of respect, to transmit 
copies of this report to the United States, in Congress 
assembled, and to the executives of the other states. 

By order of the Commissioneis. 

Dated at Annapolis, September 14th, 1786. 



This report was adopted, and transmitted to Congress. 
On the twenty-first of February, the committee of that 
body, consisting of Messrs. Dane, Varnum, S. M. Mitchell, 
Smith, Cadwallader, Irvine, N. Mitchell, Forrest, Gray- 
son, Blount, Bull, and Few, to whom the report of the 
commissioners was referred, reported thereon, and offered 
the following resolutions, viz. — * 

Congress having had under consideration the letter of 
John Dickinson, Esq., chairman of the commissioners 
who assembled at Annapolis, during the last year ; also 
the proceedings of the said commissioners, and entirely 
coinciding with them, as to the inefficiency of the federal 
government, and the necessity of devising such further 
provisions as shall render the same adequate to the ex- 
igencies of the Union, dj strongly reommend to the dif 



CONSTITUTIOi\ OF THE UNITED STATES. 335 

ferent legislatures to send forward delegates, to meet the 
proposed convention, on the second Monday in May next, 
at the city of Philadelphia. 

The delegates for the state of New York thereupon 
laid before Congress instructions which they had received 
from their constituents, and in pursuance of the said in- 
structions, moved to postpone the further consideration 
of the report, in order to take up the following proposi- 
tion, viz. — 

" That it be recommended to the states composing the 
Union, that a convention of representatives from the said 
states respectively, be held at , on , for the pur- 
pose of revising the articles of confederation and perpet- 
ual union between the United States of America, and 
reporting to the United States, in Congress assembled, 
and to the states respectively, such alterations and amend- 
ments of the said articles of confederation, as the repre- 
sentatives, met in such convention, shall judge proper and 
necessary, to render them adequate to the preservation 
and support of the Union." 

On taking the question, only three states voted in the 
affirmative, and the resolution was negatived. 

A motion was then made by the delegates for Massa 
chusetts, to postpone the further consideration of the 
report, in order to take into consideration a motion which 
they read in their place ; this being agreed to, the motion 
of the delegates for Massachusetts was taken up, and 
being amended was agreed to, as follows : — 

" Whereas, there is provision in the articles of con 
federation* and perpetual union, for making alterations 
therein, by the assent of a Congress of the United States, 
and of the legislatures of the several states*; and where as, 
experience hath evinced that there are defects in the pre- 
sent confederation, as a mean to remedy which, several 
of the states and particularly the state of New York, bj 



336 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

express instructions to their delegates in Congress, have 
suggested a convention for the purposes expressed in the 
following resolution ; and such convention appealing to 
be the most probable means of establishing in these 
states, a firm national government : — 

" Resolved, That, in the opinion of ' 'ongress, it is ex- 
pedient that, on the second Monday in May next, a con- 
vention of delegates who shall have been appointed by 
the several states, be held at Philadelphia, for the sole 
and express purpose of revising the articles of confedera- 
tion, and reporting to Congress and the several legisla- 
tures, such alterations and provisions therein, as shall, 
when agreed to in Congress, and confirmed by the 
states, render the federal constitution adequate to the 
exigencies of the government, and the preservation of the 
Union." 

This preamble and resolution were immediately trans- 
mitted to the several speakers of State legislative assem- 
blies, and they were laid before the representatives of the 
people in all the States of the confederacy. While a feel- 
ing prevailed generally that something must be done to 
avert the threatened anarchy, toward which governmental 
operations were tending, great caution was observed in the 
delegation of powers and in instruction to those who 
6hould be appointed members of the proposed convention. 
However, in compliance with the recommendation of Con- 
gress, delegates were chosen in the several states, for the 
purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, and 
assembled in Philadelphia on the second Monday in May, 
1787. All the states were represented except Rhode 
Island.* Washington who was a delegate from Virginia, 
was chosen president of the convention. Able statesmen 
were his associates, and they entered earnestly upon their 

* For the names of the Delegates to the constitutional convention, see Ap 
pendix. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 337 

duties. They had not proceeded far, however, before 
they perceived that the Articles of Confederation were so 
radically defective and their powers so inadequate to the 
wants of the country, that instead of trying to amend the 
code of the old Confederation, they went diligently at 
work to form a new Constitution. Edmund Randolph 
submitted a series of resolutions on the twenty-ninth of 
May, which embodied the plan of a new Constitution. It 
was proposed to form a general government consisting of a 
legislatureAxecutive, and judiciary ; and a revenue, army 
and navy i "dependent of the control of the several states. 
It was to have power to conduct war, establish peace, 
make treaties ; to have the exclusive privilege of coining 
money, and the supervision of all national transactions. 
Upon general principles this plan was highly approved, 
but in that convention there were many ardent and pure 
patriots, who looked upon the preservation of State 
Sovereignty as essential, and regarded this proposed 
form of government, as a radical infringement upon those 
rights. They therefore violently opposed it. 

Another plan was proposed by Mr. Patterson, a dele- 
gate from New Jersey. It enlarged the power of C in- 
gress, but left it resources and suppMea to be found 
through the medium of the State governments. Thu 
plan had that serious defect of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, — a dependence of the general government upon the 
several states, for its vitality. On the 12th of Septem- 
ber, the committee to " revise the Articles," submitted 
the following resolution to Congress, which was adopted 

" Resolved unanimously, That the said report, with *\m» 
resolutions and letters accompanying the same, be trans? 
I mitted to the several legislatures, in order to be submittec* 
to a convention of delegates chosen in each State by tb * 
•eople thereof, in conformity to the resolves of the co* 
mention, made and provided in that case." 
22 



8 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATUES. 

The following is a certified copy of the Constitution 
ent to the various states for ratification, together with ai? 
its amendments subsequently made, and profusely an- 
notated. It is copied from, and compared with, the Roll 
in the Department of State. 



We the people of the United States, in order to form a 
more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic 
tranquillity, provide for the common defeme, promote 
-be general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty 
to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish 
this Constitution for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE I. 

Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall 
be vested in a Congress of the United States, which 
shall consist of a senate and house of representatives. 

Section 2. The house of representatives shall be com- 
posed of members chosen every second year by the peo- 
ple of the several states, and the electors in each state 
shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the 
most numerous branch of the state legislature. 

No person shall be a representative who shall not 
nave attained to the age of twenty-fi e years, and been 
seven years a citizen of the United States, and who sha41 
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which 
he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned 
among the. several states which may be included within 
this Union, according to their respective numbers,* which 

* The constitutional provision, that direct taxes shall be apportioned among th* 
•everal States according to their respective numbers, to be ascertained by a cen« 
nu, was not intended to restrict the power of imposing direct taxes to State* 
©nly. — Loughborough vs. Blake, 5, Wheaton, 319. 



CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 33S 

shall be determined by adding to the whole number of 
free persons, including those bound to service for a term 
of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths o r 
all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be 
made within three years after the first meeting of the 
Congress of the United States, and within every subse- 
quent term often years, in such manner as they shall by 
law direct. The number of representatives shall not ex- 
ceed one for every thirty thousand,* but each state shall 
have at least one representative ; and until such enume- 
ration shall be made, the state of New Hampshire shall 
be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, 
New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, 
Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Caro- 
lina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 

When vacancies happen in the representation from 
any state, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs 
of election to fill such vacancies. 

The house of representatives shall choose their speaker 
and other officers ; and shall have the sole, power of im- 
peachment. 

Section 3. The senate of the United States shall be 
composed of two senators from each state, chosen by the 
legislature thereof, for six years; and each senator shall 
have one vote.t 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in conse- 
quence of the first election, they shall be divided as 
equally as may be into three classes. * The seats of the 
senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expira- 
L tion .if the second year, of the second class at the expi- 
i ration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the ex- 

* See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 124 ; lii., 261 ; iv., 332. Acts of 17tfc 
Congress, 1st session, chap. x. ; and of the 22d and 27th Congress. 
f See art. v„ clause 1. 






340 CONSTITUT ON OF THE UNITED STATES. 

piration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen 
every second year ; and if vacancies happen by resigna- 
tion or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of 
any state, the executive thereof may make temporary 
appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, 
which shall then fill such vacancies. 

No person shall be a senator who shall not have at- 
tained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a 
citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when 
elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall 
be chosen. 

The vice-president of the United States shall be presi- 
dent of the senate, but shall have no vote unless they be 
equally divided. 

The senate shall choose their other officers, and also a 
president, pro tempore, in the absence of the vice-presi- 
dent, or when he shall exercise the office of president of 
the United States. 

The senate shall have the sole power to try all im- 
peachments ; When sitting for that purpose they shall be 
on oath or affirmation. When the president of the United 
States is tried, the chief justice shall preside ; And no 
person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two 
thirds of the members present. 

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend 
further than to removal from office, and disqualification to 
hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under 
. the United States ; but the party convicted shall neverthe- 
less be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and 
punishment, according to law. 

Section 4. The times, places and manner of holding 
elections for senators and representatives, shall be pre- 
scribed in each state by the legislature thereof: but the 
Congress may at any time, fay law, make or alter such 
regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 34? 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every 
year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in 
December, unless they shall by law appoint a different 
day. 

Section 5. Each house shall be the judge of the elec- 
tions, returns and qualifications of its own members, and 
a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business ; 
but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and 
may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent 
members, ir such manner, and under such penalties as 
each house may provide. 

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings,* 
punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the 
concurrence of two thirds, expel a member. 

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, 
and from time to time publish the same, excepting such 
parts as may in their judgment require secrecy ; and the 
yeas and nays of the members of either house on any ques- 
tion shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be 
entered on the journal.. 



* To an action of trespass against the sergeant-at-arms of the house of repre- 
Bentatives of the United States for assault and battery and false imprisonment, it 
is a legal justification and bar to plead that a Congress was held and sitting during 
the period of the trespasses complained, and that the house of representativea 
had resolved that the plaintiff had been guilty of a breach of the privileges of the 
house, and of a high contempt of the dignity and authority of the same ; and had 
ordered that the speaker should issue his warrant to the sergeant-at-arms, com- 
manding him to take the plaintiff into custody wherever to be found, and to have 
him before the said house to answer to the said charge; and that the speaker did 
accordingly issue such a warrant, reciting the said resolution and order, and com- 
manding the sergeant-at-arms to take the plaintiff into custody, &c, and deliver 
the said warrant to the defendant : by virtue of which warrant the defendant ar- 
rested the plaintiff, and conveyed him to the bar of the house, where he was heard 
in his defence touching the matter of said' charge, and the examination being ad- 
journed from day to day, and the house having ordered the plaintiff to be de- 
tained in custody, he was accordingly detained by the defendant until he waa 
finally adjudged to be guilty and convicted of the charge aforesaid, and ordered 
to be forthwith brought to the bar and reprimanded by the speaker, and then dis- 
charged from custody, and after being thus reprimanded, was actually discharged 
from the arrest and custody aforesaid. — Anderson vs Dunn, 6 Wheatan, 204. 



342 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Neither house, during the session of Congress shall, 
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than 
three days, nor to any other place than that in which the 
two houses shall be sitting. 

Section 6. The senators and representatives shall re- 
ceive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained 
by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. 
They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach 
of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their at- 
tendance at the session of their respective houses, and in 
going to and returning from the same ; and for any speech 
or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in 
any other place. 

No senator or representative shall, during the time for 
which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office un- 
der the authority of the United States, which shall have 
been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been 
increased during such time ; and no person holding any 
office under the United States, shall be a member of 
either house during his continuance in office. 

Section 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate 
in the house of representatives ; but the senate may pro- 
pose or concur with amendments as on other bills. 

Every bill which shall have passed the house of repre- 
sentatives and the senate, shall, before it become a law, be 
presented to the president of the United States ; if he ap- 
prove he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his 
objections to that house in which it shall have originated, 
who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, 
and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration 
twc thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it 
shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other 
house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if 
approved by two thirds of that house, it shall become a 
law. But in all such cases the votes of both h )uses shall 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 34b 

be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the 
persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on 
the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall 
not be returned by the president within ten days (Sun- 
day excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, 
the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed 
it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its 
return, in which case it shall not be a law. 

Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concur- 
rence of the senate and house of representatives may be 
necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be 
presented to the president of the United States ; and be- 
fore the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, 
or being disapproved by him shall be repassed by two 
thirds of the senate and house of representatives, accord- 
ing to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of 
a bill. 

Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and 
collect taxes,* duties, imposts and excises, to pay the 
debts and provide for the common defence and general 
welfare of the United States ; but all duties, imposts and 
excises, shall be uniform throughout the United States ; 

To borrow money on the credit of the United States ; 

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among 
the several states, and with the Indian tribes ; 

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization,! and 
uniform 'aws on the subject of bankruptcies^ throughout 
the United States ; 

* The power of Congress to lay and collect taxes, duties, &c, extends to the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, and to the territories of the United States, as well as to the 
states. — Loughborough, vs. Blake, 5 Wheaton, 318. But CongTess are not bound 
to extend a direct tax to the district and territories. — Id., 318. 

t Under the constitution of the United States, the power of naturalization is ex- 
clusively in Congress. — Chivac vs. Chivac, 2 Wheaton, 259. 

See 'aws United States, vol. ii., chap. 30 ; ii., 261 ; iii., 71 ; iii., 288 ; Hi., 400 } 
tr., 564 ; vi., 32. 

' Since the adoption of the constitution of the United States, a state has authority 



J44 CONSTITUTION' t*F THE UiVITED states. 

To coin money, regtdate the value thereof, and of for. 
eign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures; 

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the se- 
curities and current coin of the United States ; 

To establish post-offices and post-roada , 

To promote the progress of science and useful arcs, bj 
securing for limited times to authors and inventors, the 
exclusive right to their respective writings and dis 
coveries ; 

To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court ; 

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed 
on the high seas, and oifences against the law of nations ;* 

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, 
and make rules concerning captures on land and water ; 

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of 
money to that use shall be for a longer term than two 
years ; 

To provide and maintain a navy ; 

To make rales for the government and regulation of the 
land and naval forces ; 

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute th« 
laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel in- 
vasions ; 

<o pass a bankrupt law, provided such law does not impair the obligation of con 
tracts within the meaning of the constitution (art. i., sect. 10), and provided there 
be no act of Congress in force to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy con- 
flicting with such law. — Sturgtss vs. Crovminshield, 4 Wheaton, 122, 192. 

See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 368, sect. 2 ; iii., 66 ; hi., 158. 

* The act of the 3d March, 1819, chap. 76, sect. 5, referring to the law of nations 
for a definition of the crime of piracy, is a constitutional exercise of the power of 
Congress to define and punish that crime. — United States vs. Smith, 5 Wheaton, 
153, 157. 

Congress have power to provide for the punishment of offences committed by 
persons on board a ship-of-war of the United States, wherever that ship may lie. 
But Congress have not exercised that power in the case of a ship lying in the 
waters of the United States, the words within fort, arsenal, dockyard, magazine, 
or in any other place or district of country under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction 
of the United States, in the third section of the act of 1790, chap. 9, not extending 
to a ship-of-war, but only to objects in their nature, fixed and territorial. — United 
State* vs. Bevans, 3 Wheaton, 890. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 345 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining 
flie militia, and for governing such part . f them as may 
he employed in the service of the United States, reserv 
ing to the states respectively, the appointment of the offi- 
cers, and the authority of training the militia according to 
the discipline prescribed by Congress ;* 

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatso- 
ever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) 
as may, by cession of particular states, and the accept- 
ance of Congress, become the seat of the government of 
the United States, t and to exercise like authority over all 
places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the 
state, in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, 
magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful build- 
ings ; — And 

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper 
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all 
other powers vested by this constitution m the govern- 
ment of the United States, or in any department or offi- 
cer thereof.| 

* Vide amendments, art. ft. 

t Congress has authority to impose a direct tax on the District of Columbia, in 
proportion to the census directed to be taken by the constitution. — Loughborough 
vs. Blake, 5 Wheaton, 317. 

But Congress are not bound to extend a direct tax to the district and territo- 
ries. — Id., 322. 

The power of Congress to exercise exclusive jurisdiction in all cases whatso- 
ever within the District of Columbia, includes the power of taxing it. — Id, 324 

\ Whenever the terms in which a power is granted by the constitution to Con- 
gress, or whenever the nature of the power itself requires that it should be exer- 
cised exclusively by Congress, the subject is as completely taken away from the 
^tate legislatures as if they had been expressly forbidden to act on it— Slurgess vs. 
Crowninshield, 4 Wheaton, 193. 

Congress has power to incorporate a bank.— McCulloch vt. State of Maryland, 
4 Wheaton, 316. 

The power of establishing a corporation is not a distinct sovereign power or 
end of government, but only the means of carrying into effect other powers which 
are sovereign. Whenever it becomes an appropriate means of exercising any oi 
the powers given by the constitution to the government of the Union, it may be 
sawcised by that government. — Id., 41 1 , 421. 

*f a certain means to carry into effect any of the powers expres^y given t j Am 



I 

346 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Section 9. The migration or importation of such per* 
Bons as any of the states now existing shall think proper 
to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to 

constitution to the government of the Union, be an appropriate measure, not pro* 
hibited by the constitution, the degree of its necessity is a question of legislative 
discretion, not of judicial cognizance. — Id , 421. 

The af c* the 19th of April, 18 16, chap. 44, to incorporate the subscribers to the 
bank of the United States is a law made in pursuance of the constitution. — Id., 424. 
The bank of the United States has constitutionally a right to establish its 
branches or offices of discount and deposite within any state. — Id. % 424. 

There is nothing iti the constitution of the United States similar to the articles 
of confederation, which excludes incidental or implied powers. — Id., 403. 

If the e«d be legitimate, and within the scope of the constitution, all the means 
which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, and which are not 
prohibited, may constitutionally be employed to carry it into effect. — Id., 421. 

The powers granted to Congress are not exclusive oi similar powers existing 
in the states, unless where the constitution has expressly in terms given an exclu- 
sive power to Congress, or the exercise of a like power is prohibited to the states, 
or there is a direct repugnancy or incompatibility in the exercise of it by th« 
states.— Houston vs Moore, 5 Whcaton 4!). 

The example of the first class is to be found in the exclusive legislation dele- 
gated to Congress over places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the 
state in which tiie same shall be for forts, arsenals, dockyards, <fcc. Of the se- 
cond class, the prohibition of a state to coin money or emit bills of credit. Of 
the third class, the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and the 
delegation of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. — Id., 49. 

In all other classes of cases the states retain concurrent authority with Con- 
gress.— Id., 48. 

But in cases of concurrent authority, where the laws of the states and of the 
Union are in direct and manifest collision on the same subject, those of the 
Union being the supreme law of the land, are of paramount authority, and the 
state so far, and so far only as such incompatibility exists, must necessarily 
yield.— Id., 49. 

The state within which a branch of the United States bank may be established, 
can not, without violating the constitution, tax that branch. — McCulloch vs StaU 
of Maryland, 4 Whcaton, 425. 

The state governments have no right to tax any of the constitutional means 
employed by the government of the Union to execute its constitutional powers. — 
Id., 427. 

The states have no power by taxation, or otherwise, to retard, impede, burden, 
or in 'any manner control, the operation of the constitutional laws enacted by 
Congress, to carry into effect the powers vested in the national government.— 
U., 436. 

This principle does not extend to a tax paid by the real property of the bank 
of the United States, in common with the other real property in a particular state, 
nor to a tax imposed on the proprietary which the citizens of that 6tate may hold 
In common with the other property of the same description throughout the state. 
-«. 436. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 347 

the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax 
or duty may be imposed on such importation, not ex- 
ceeding ten dollars for each person. 

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be 
suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion 
the public safety may require it. 

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, unless 
in proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore 
directed to be taken. 

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from 
any state. 

No preference shall be given by any regulation of com- 
merce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of 
another : nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one state, 
be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 

No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in 
consequence of appropriations made by law ; and a regu- 
lar statement and account of the receipts and extendi 
tures of all public money shall be published from time to 
time. 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United 
States : And no person holding any office of profit or 
trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Con- 
gress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, 
of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign 
state. 

Section 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alli- 
ance, or confederation ; grant letters of marque and re- 
prisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit ; make anything 
but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; 
pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impair- 
ing the obligation of contracts,* or grant any title of no- 
bility. 

* Where a law is in its nature a contract, where absolute rights have veste4 



348 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, 
lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except 
what may be absolutely necessary for executing its in- 
spection laws : and the net produce of all duties and im 
posts, laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for 
the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such 
laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the 
Congress. 

No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any 
duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships-of-war in time of 
peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another 

under that contract, a repeal of the law can not divest those rights. — Fletcher vs. 
Peck, 6 Cranch, 88. 

A party to a contract can not pronounce its own deed invalid, although that 
party be a sovereign state. — Id., 88. 

A grant is a contract executed. — Id., 89. 

A law annulling conveyance is unconstitutional, because it is a law impairing 
the obligation of contracts within the meaning of the constitution of the United 
States.— Id. 

The court will not declare a law to be unconstitutional, unless the opposition 
between the constitution and the law be clear and plain.— Id., 87. 

An act of the legislature of a state, declaring that certain lands which should be 
purchased for the Indians should not thereafter be subject to any tax, constituted 
a contract which could not, after the adoption of the constitution of the United 
States, be rescinded by a subsequent legislative act ; such rescinding act being 
void under the constitution of the United States. — State of New Jersey vs. Wilson, 
7 Cranch, 164. 

The present constitution of the United States did not commence its operation 
until the first Wednesday in March, 1789, and the provision in the constitution, 
that " no state shall make any law impairing the obligation of contracts," does not 
extend to a state law enacted before that day, and operating upon rights of pro- 
perty vesting before that time. — Owings vs. Speed, 5 Wheaton, 420, 421. 

An act of a state legislature, which discharges a debtor from all liability for 
debts contracted previous to his discharge, on his surrendering his property for 
the benefit of his creditors, is a law impairing "the obligations of contracts," 
within the meaning of the constitution of the United States, so far as it attempts 
to discharge the contract ; and it makes no difference in such a case, that the suit 
was brought in a state court of the state of which both the parties were citizens 
where the contract was made, and the discharge obtained, and where they con- 
tinued to reside until the suit was brought. — Farmers and Mechanics' Bank vs. 
Smith, 6 Wheaton, 131. 

The act of New York, passed on the 3d of April, 1811 (which not only liberates 
the person of the debtor, but discharges him from ail liability for any debt con- 
tracted pre pious to his discharge, on his surrendering his property in the 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 349 

state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless 
actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not 
admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in a 
president of the United States of America. He shall 
hold his office during the term of four years,* and, to- 
gether with the vice-president, chosen for the same term, 
be elected, as follows : 

1 Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legisla- 
ture thereof may direct,! a number of electors, equal to 
the whole number of senators and representatives to 
which the state may be entitled in the Congress : but no 
senator or representative, or person holding an office of 
trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed 
an elector. 



it prescribes,) so far as it attempts to discharge the contract, is a law impairing 
the obligation of contracts within the meaning of the constitution of the United 
States, and is not a good plea in bar of an action brought upon such contract. — 
Sturgess vs. Crowinskield, 4 Wheaton, 122, 197. 

Statutes of limitation and usury laws, unless retroactive in their effect, do not 
impair the obligation of contracts, and are constitutional. — Id., 206. 

A state bankrupt or insolvent law (which not only liberates the person of the 
debtor, but discharges him from all liability for the debt,) so far as it attempts to 
discharge the contract, is repugnant to the constitution of the United States, and 
it makes no difference in the application of this principle, whether the law was 
passed before or after the debt was contracted. — McMillan vs. McNeill, 4 Whea- 
ton, 209. 

The charter granted by the British crown to the trustees of Dartmouth col- 
lege, in New Hampshire, in the year 1769, is a contract within the meaning of that 
clause of the constitution of the United States (art. i., sect. 10) which declares, 
that no state shall make any law impairing the obligation of contracts. The 
charter was not dissolved by the revolution.— College vs. Woodard, 4 Wheaton, 518 

An act of the state legislature of New Hampshire, altering the charter of Dart- 
mouth College in a material respect, without the consent of the corporation, isaa 
act impairing the obligation of the charter, and is unconstitutional and void.- 
Id., 518. 

* See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 109, sect. 12. 

t See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 109. 



350 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES*. 

[*The electors shall meet in their respective states, and 
vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall 
not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. 
And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, 
and of the number of votes for each ; which list they shall 
sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the the seat of 
the government of the United States, directed to the 
president of the senate. The president of the senate shall 
in the presence of the senate and house of representa- 
tives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be 
counted. The person having the greatest number of 
votes shall be the president, if such number be a majority 
of the whole number of electors appointed ; and. if there 
be more than one who have such majority, and have an 
equal number of votes, then the house of representatives 
shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for presi- 
dent ; and if no person have a majority, then from the 
five highest on the list the said house shall in like manner 
choose the president. But in choosing the president, the 
votes shall be taken by states, the representation from 
each state having one _vote ; a quorum for this purpose 
shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of 
the states, and a majority of all the states shall be neces- 
sary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the 
president, the person having the greatest number of votes 
of the electors shall be the vice-president. But if there 
should remain two or more who have equal votes, the 
senate shall choose from them by ballot the vice-presi- 
dent.t] 

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the 
electors, | and the day on which they shall give their 
votes ; which day shall be the same throughout the 
United States. § 

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen 
of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this 
constitution, shall be eligible to the office of president ; 

* Vide amendments, art. xii. 

\ This clause is annulled. See amendments, art. xii. 

X See laws United Ststes, vol. ii., chap. 104, sect. 1; also law 28th Congress. 

§ See laws United States, vd. ii., chap. 109, sect. 2. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 351 

neiv-i^i «fiall any person be eligible to that office who shall 
not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been 
fourteen years a resident within the United States. 

In case of the removal of the president from office, or 
of tns death, resignation,* or inability to discharge the 
powers and duties of the said office, the same shall de- 
volve on the vice-president, and the Congress may by 
law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or 
inability, both of the president and vice-president, decla- 
ring what officer shall then act as president, and such officer 
shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a 
president shall be elected.! 

The president shall, at stated times, receive for his ser- 
vices, a compensation, which shall neither be increased 
nor diminished during the period for which he shall have 
been elected, and he shall not receive within that period 
any other emolument from the United States, or any of 
them. 

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall 
take the following oath or affirmation : — " I do solemnly 
swear (or affirm) thac I will faithfully execute the office 
of president of the United States, and will, to the best of 
my ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitution 
of the United States." 

Section 2. The president shall be commander-in-chief 
of the army and navy of the United States, and of the mi- 
litia of the several states, when called into the actual service 
of the United States ;$ he may require the opinion, in wri- 

* See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 104, sect. 11. 

\ See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 109, sect. 9 ; and vol iii. chap. 403. 

I The act of the state of Pennsylvania, of the 28th March, 1814 (providing, 
sect. 21, that the officers and privates of the militia of that state neglecting or 
refusing to serve when called into actual service, in pursuance of any order or 
requisition of the president of the United States, shall be liable to the penalties 
denned in the act of Congress of 28th February, 1795, chap. 277, or to any penalty 
which may have been prescribed since the date of that act, or which may hero- 
after bo prescribed by any law of thtt United States, and also providing for the 



352 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ting v of the principal officer in each of the executive do 
partments, upon any subject relating to the duties of thei: 
respective offices, and he shall have power to grant re 
prieves and pardons for offences against the United 
States, except in cases of impeachment. 

He shall have power, by and with the advice and con- 
sent of the senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds 
of the senators present concur ; and he shall nominate, 
and by and with the advice and consent of the senate, 
shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and con- 
suls, judges of the supreme court, and all other officers of 
the United States, whose appointments are not herein 
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by 
law ; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment 
of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the presi- 
dent alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of de- 
partments. 

The president shall have power to fill up all vacancies 
that may happen during the recess of the senate, by grant- 
ing commissions which shall expire at the end of their 
next session. 

Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Con- 
gress information of the state of the Union, and recom- 
mend to their consideration such measures as he shall 
judge necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordina- 
ry occasions, convene both houses, or either of them, and 
in case of disagreement between them, with respeci to 
the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such 
time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive ambassa- 
dors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that 

trial of such delinquents by a state court-martial, and thatalist of the delinquents 
fined by such court should be furnished to the marshal of the United States, &<•. ; 
and also to the comptroller of the treasury of the United States, in order that the 
further proceedings directed to be had thereon by the laws of the United States 
ttii^ht be completed), is not repugnant to the constitution and laws of the United 
States. — Houston, vs. Moore, 5 Wheaton. I, 12. 



CONSTITUTION OF THK UNITED STATES. 35i 

the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission al 
the officers of the United States. 

Section 4. The president, vice-president, and all civil 
officers of the United Slates, shall be removed from office 
or. impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, 
or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III. 

Section 1. The judicial power of the United States, 
shall be vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior 
courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and 
establish.* The judges, both of the supreme and inferior 
courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and 
shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compen- 
sation, which shall not be diminished during their contin- 
uance in office.! 

Section 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases 
in law and equity, arising under this constitution, the laws 
of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be 
made, under their authority ; — to all cases affecting am- 
bassadors, other public ministers and consuls ; — to all ca- 
ses of admiralty and maritime jurisdictions ; — to contro- 
versies to which the United States shall be a party ; — to 
controversies between two or more states; — between a 
state and citizens of another state ; — between citizens of 
different states,! — between citizens of the same state 
claiming lands under grants of different states, and be 
tween a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states* 
citizens or subjects.§ 

* Congress may constitutionally impose upon the judges of the supreme court 
of the United States the burden of holding circuit courts.— Stuart ts. Laird, 

1 Cranch, 299. 

\ See laws of the United States, vol. ii., chap. 20. 

X A citizen of the District of Columbia is not a citizen of a state within tha 
meaning of the constitution of the United States. — Hepburn it al vs. Ellzeif 

2 Cranck, 445. 

* The supreme court of the United States has not power to issue * 

23 



354 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public mis* 
isters arid consuls, and those in which a state shall be 
party, the supreme court shall have original jurisdiction. 
In all the other cases before mentioned, the supreme 
court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and 
fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as 
the Congress shall make.* 

to a secretary of state of the United States, it being an exercise of original jurisdic- 
tion not warranted by the constitution, notwithstanding the act of Congress. — 
Marbury, vs. Madison, 1 Cranch, 137. 

See a restriction of this provision. — Amendments, art. xi. 

* The appellate jurisdiction of the supreme court of the United States extei.da 
to a final judgment or decree in any suit in the highest court of law, or equity ol 
a state, where is drawn in question the validity of a treaty, &c. — Martin vs. 
Hunter's lessee, 1 Wheaton, 304. 

Such judgment &c, may be re-examined by writ of error, in the same manner 
as if rendered in a circuit court. — Id. 

If the cause has been once remanded before, and the state court decline or 
refuse to carry into effect the mandate of the supreme court thereon, this court 
will proceed to a final decision of the same, and award execution thereon. 

Quere. — Whether this court has authority to issue a mandamus to the state 
court to enforce a former judgment ? — Id., 362. 

If the validity or construction of a treaty of the United States is drawn in 
question, and the decision is against its validity, or the title specially set up by 
either party under the treaty, this court has jurisdiction to ascertain that title, 
and determine its legal validity, and is not confined to the abstract construction 
of the treaty itself.— Id., 362. 

Quere. — Whether the courts of the United States have jurisdiction of offences 
at common law against the United States ! — United States vs. Coolidge, 1 Wheaton, 
415. 

The courts of the United States have exclusive jurisdiction of all seizures 
made on land or water for a breach of the laws of the United States, and any 
Intervention of a state authority, which by taking the thing seized out of the 
hands of the United States' officer, might obstruct the exercise of this jurisdiction, 
is illegal. — Slocum vs. Mayberry et al, 2 Wheaton, 1, 9. 

In such a case the court of the United States have cognizance of the seizure, 
may enforce a re-delivery of the thing by attachment or other summary process.— 

id., a. 

The question under such a seizure, whether a forfeiture has been actually 
Incurred, belongs exclusively to the courts of the United States, and it depends 
npcn the final decree of such courts, whether the seizure is to be deemed rightful 
or tortuous. — Id., 9, 10. 

If the seizing officer refuse to institute proceedings to ascertain the forfeiture, 
the district court may, on application of the aggrieved party, compel the office/ 
to proceed to adjudication, or to abandon the seizure — Id., 10. 

The jurisdiction of the circuit court of the United States extends to a case 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 355 

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, 
shall be by jury ; and such trial shall be held in the state 
where the said crimes shall have been committed ; but 

between citizens of Kentucky, claiming lands exceeding the value of five 
hundred dollars, under different grants, the one issued by the state of Kentucky 
and the other by the state of Virginia, upon warrants issued by Virginia, and 
locations founded thereon, prior to the separation of Kentucky from Virginia. It 
is the grant which passes the legal title to the land, and if the controversy is 
founded upon the conflicting grants of different s'tates, the judicial power of the 
courts of the United States extends to the case, whatever may have been the 
equitable title of the parties prior to the grant. — Colson et al vs. Lewis, 2 Wheaton, 
377. 

Under the judiciary of 1789, chap. 20, sect. 25, giving appellate jurisdiction to 
the supreme court of the United States, from the final judgment or decree of the 
highest court of law or equity of a state, in certain cases the writ of error may be 
directed to any court in which the record and judgment on which it is to act may 
be found ; and if the record has bee.n remitted by the highest court, &c, to another 
court of the state, it may be brought by the writ of error from that court.— Gelston 
vs. Hoyt, 3 Wheaton, 246, 303. 

The remedies in the courts of the United States at common law and in equity 
are to be, not according to the practice of state courts, but according to the 
principles of common law and equity as defined in England. This doctrine 
reconciled with the decisions of the courts of Tennessee, permitting an equitable 
title to be asserted iu an action at law. — Robinson vs. Campbell, 3 Wheaton, 221. 

Remedies in respect to real property, are to be pursued according to the lex 
loci rei sitae. — Id., 2, 9. 

The courts of the United States have exclusive cognizance of questions of 
forfeitures upon all seizures made under the laws of the United States, and it ia 
not competent for a state court to entertain or decide such question of forfeiture. 
If a sentence of condemnation be definitively pronounced by the proper court of 
the United States, it is conclusive that a forfeiture is incurred ; if a sentence of 
acquittal, it is equally conclusive against the forfeiture, and in either case the 
question cannot be again litigated in any common law for ever. — Gelston vs. Hoyt, 
3 Wheaton, 246, 311. 

Where a seizure is made for a supposed forfeiture under a law of the United 
States, no action of trespass lies in any common-law tribunal, until a final decree is 
pronounced upon the proceeding in rem to enforce such forfeiture : for it depends 
upon the final decree of the court proceeding in rem, whether such seizure is to be 
deemed rightful or tortuous, and the action, if brought before such decree is 
made, is brought too soon. — Id., 313. 

If a suit be brought against the seizing officer for the supposed trespass while 
the suit for the forfeiture is depending, the fact of such pending may be pleaded in 
abatement, or as a temporary bar of the action. If after a decree of condemna- 
tion, then that fact may be pleaded as a bar : if after an acquittal with a certifi ;ate 
of reasonable cause of seizure, then that may be pleaded as a bar. If after an 
acquittal without such certificate, then the officer is without any justification for 
the seizure, and it is definitively settled to be a tortuous act. If to an action of 
trespass in a state cor/t for a seizure, the seizing officer plead the fact of for 



356 CONSTITUTION OF THE I NITED STATES. 

when not committed within any state, the tria 1 shall be at 
such place or places as the Congress may by law have 
directed.* 



feiture in his defence without averring a lis pendens, or a condemnation, or an 
acquittal, with a certificate of reasonable cause of seizure, the plea is bad : ior 
it attempts to put in issue the question of forfeiture in a state court. — Id., 314. 
Supposing that the third article of the constitution of the United States which 
declares, that " the judicial power shall extend to all cases of admiralty and mari- 
time jurisdiction" vested in the United States exclusive jurisdiction of all such 
cases, and that a murder committed in the waters of a state where the tide ebbs 
and flows, is a case of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; yet Congress have 
not, in the 8th section of the act of 1790, chap. 9, "for the punishment of certain 
crimes against the United States," so exercised this power, as to confer on the 
courts of the United States jurisdiction over such murder.— United States vs. 
Bevans, 3 Wheaton, 336, 387. 

Qucre. — Whether courts of common law have concurrent jurisdiction with tne 
admiralty over murder committed in bays, &c, which are enclosed parts of the 
sea?— Id., 387. 

The grant to the United States in the constitution of all cases of admiralty 
and maritime jurisdiction, does not extend to a cession of the waters in which 
those cases may arise, or of general jurisdiction over the same. Congress may 
pass all laws which are necessary for giving the most complete elfect to the 
exercise of the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction granted to the government of 
the Union ; but the general jurisdiction over the place subject to this grant, adheres 
to tne territory as a portion of territory not yet given away, and the residuary 
powers of legislation still remain in the state. — Id., 389. 

The supreme court of the United States has constitutionally appellate jurisdic- 
tion under the judiciary act of 1789, chap. 20, sect. 25, from the final judgment or 
decree of the highest court of law or equity of a state having jurisdiction of the 
subject matter of the suit, where is drawn in question the validity of a treaty or 
statute of, or an authority exercised under, the United States, and the decision is 
against their validity : or where is drawn in question the validity of a statute of, 
or an authority exercised under any state, on the ground of their being repugnant 
to the constitution, treaties, or laws of the United States, and the decision is in 
favor of such their validity : or of the constitution, or of a treaty, or statute of, ot 
commission held under the United States, and the decision is against the title, 
right, privilege, or exemption, specially set up or claimed by either party under 
such clause of the constitution, treaty statute, or commission. — Cohens vs. 
Virginia, 6 Wheaton, 264, 375. 

It is no objection to the exercise of this appellate jurisdiction, that one cf the 
parties is a state, and the other a citizen of that state. — Id. 

The circuit courts of the Union have chancery jurisdiction in every state ; they 
have the same chancery powers, and the same rules of decision in equity cases, in 
all the states. — United States vs. Horcland, 4 Wheaton, 108, 115. 

Resolutions of the legislature of Virginia of 1810, upon the proposition from 
Pennsylvania to amend the constitution, so as to provide an impartial tribunal to 

* See amendments, art. yi. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 357 

Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall 
consist only in levying war against them, or ha adhering 
to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. 

No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the 
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on 
confession in open court. 

The Congress shall have power to declare the punish- 
ment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work 

decide disputes between the State and federal judiciaries. — Note to Coliens vs. 
Virginia. Note 6 Wheaton, 358. 

Where a cause is brought to this court by writ of error, or appeal from the 
highest court of law, or equity of a state, under the 25th section of the judiciary act 
of 1789, chap. 20, upon the ground that the validity of a statute of the United States 
was drawn in question, and that the decision of the state court was against its 
validity, &c, or that the validity of the statute of a state was drawn in question as 
repugnant to the constitution of the United States, and the decision was in favor ol 
it.^ validity, it must appear from the record, that the act of Congress, or the consti- 
tutionality ol the state law, was drawn in question. — Miller vs. Nicholls, 4 Wheaton, 
311,: 315. 

But it is not required that the record should in terms state a misconstruction 
of the act of Congress, or that it was drawn into question. It is sufficient to give 
this court jurisdiction of the cause, that the record should show that an act of Con- 
gress was applicable to the case. — Id., 315. 

The supreme court of the United States has no jurisdiction under the 25th section 
of the judiciary act of 1789, chap. 20, unless the judgment or decree of the state 
court be a final judgment or decree. A judgment reversing that of an inferior 
court, and awarding a venire facias dc novo, is not a hnal judgment. — Houston vs. 
Moore, 3 Wheaton, 433. 

By the compact of 1802, settling the boundary line between Virginia and Ten- 
nessee, and the laws made in pursuance thereof, it is declared that all claims and 
titles to land derived from Virginia, or North Carolina, or Tennessee, which have 
fallen into the respective states, shall remain as secure to the owners thereof, as 
if derived from the government within whose boundary they have fallen, and 
ehall not be prejudiced or affected by the establishment of the line. Where the 
titles of both the plaintiff and defendant in ejectment were derived under grant 
from Virginia to lands which fell within the limits of Tennessee, it was held that 
a prior settlement right thereto, which would in equity give the party a title, 
could not be asserted as a sufficient title in an action of ejectment brought in the 
circuit court of Tennessee. — Robinsonva. Campbell, 3 Wheaton, 212. 

Although the state courts of Tennessee have decided that, under their statutes 
(declaring an elder grant fouaded on a junior entry to be void), a junior patent, 
founded on a prior entry, shall prevail at law against a senior patent founded on a 
junior entry, this doctrine has nevei been extended beyond cases within the 
express provision of the statute of Tennessee, and could not apply to titles 
deriving all their validity from the laws of Virginia, and confirmed by the com' 
pact between the two states. — Id. 912 



358 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life 
of the person attainted.* 

ARTICLE IV. 

Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each 
state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings 
of every other state.! And the Congress may by general 
laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records 
and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.f 

Section 2. The citizens of each state shall be entitled 
to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several 
states. 

A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or 
other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in 
another state, shall on demand of the executive authority 
of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, to be re- 
moved to the state having jurisdiction of the crime. 

No person held to service or labor in one state, under 
the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in conse- 
quence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged 
from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on 
claim of the party to whom such service or labor may 
be due. 

Section 3. New states may be admitted by the Con- 
gress into this Union ; but no new state shall be formed 
or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor 
any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, 

* See laws of the United States, vol. ii., chap. 36. 

t A judgment of a state court has the same credit, validity, and effect, in eveij 
other court within the United States, which it had in the court where it was 
rendered ; and whatever pleas would be good to a suit thereon in such state, and 
none others can be pleaded in any other court within the United States. — Hampton 
vs. McConnell, 3 Wheaton, 234. 

The record of a judgment in one state is conclusive evidence in another, 
although it appears that the suit in which it was rendered, was commenced by an 
attachment of property, the defendant having afterward appeared and 
defence. — Mayheto vs. Tiiacher, 6 Wft^aton, 129 . 

t See laws United States, vol. ii., chap, 38 ; and vo , iii., chap. 409. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, 369 

or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures 
of the states concerned as well as of the Congress. 

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make 
all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory 
or other property belonging to the United States ; and 
nothing in this constitution shall be so construed as to 
prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any par- 
ticular state. 

Section 4. The United States shall guaranty to every 
6tate in this Union a republican form of government, and 
shall protect each of them against invasion ; and on ap- 
plication of the legislature, or of the executive (when the 
legislature can not be convened) against domestic violence. 
I 

ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses 
shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this 
constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of 
two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for 
proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be 
valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this constitu- 
tion, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of 
the several states, or by conventions in three fourths 
thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may 
be proposed by the Congress ; provided that no amend- 
ment which may be made prior to the year one thousnnd 
eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the 
first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first ar- 
ticle ; and that no state, without its consent, shall be de- 
prived of its equal suffrage in the senate.* 

ARTICLE VI. 
All debts contracted and engagements entered into, 
before the adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid 

* See ante art. i., sect. 3, clause 1. 



360 CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 

against the United States under this constitution, as 
under the confederation. 

This constitution, and the laws of the United States 
which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all 
treaties made, or which shall be made, under the au- 
thority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of 
the land;* and the judges in every state shall be bound 
thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state 
to the contrary notwithstanding.! 

The senators and representatives before mentioned, 
and the members of the several state legislatures, and all 
executive and "judicial officers, both of the United States 
and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affir- 
mation, to support this constitution ;| b\it no religious test 
shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or 
public trust under the United States. 

ARTICLE VII. 

The ratification of the conventions of nine states, shall 
be sufficient for the establishment of this constitution be- 
tween the states so ratifying the same. 

Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the 
states present, the seventeenth day of September, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and 
eighty-seven and of the independence of the United 

* An act of Congress repugnant to tbe constitution can not become a law. — 
Marbury vs. Madison, 1 Cranch, 176. 

t The courts of the United States are bound to take notice of the constitution. — 
Marbvrv vs. Madison, 1 Cranch, 178. 

A co-i temporary exposition of the constitution, practised and acquiesced under 
fcr a |.:riod of years, fixes its construction. — Stuart vs. Laird, 1 Cranch, 299. 

The government of the Union, though limited in its powers, i* -'iprenie within 
Ita sphere of action, and its laws, when made in pur.«manc«> ui il. j co: '' ' •, 
form the supreme law of the land. — McCulloch vs. Stau. of Maryland, 4 Whtaiott, 
405. 

J See laws of the Unite.l States, vol. ii., chap.L 



CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 



361 



States of America the twelfth. Tn witness whereof we 
have hereunto subscribed our names. 

Go. Washington, 
President, and deputy from Virginia, 



New Hampshire. 
John Langdon, 
Nicholas Gilman. 

Massachusetts. 
Nathaniel Gorham. 
Rufus King. 

Connecticut. 



Delaware. 
George Reed, 
Gunning Bedford, jr., 
John Dickinson, 
Richard Bassett, 
Jacob Broom. 

Maryland. 



William Samuel Johnson, James M'Henry, 



Roger Sherman. 

New York, 
Alexander Hamilton. 

New Jersey. 
William Livingston, 
David Breafley, 
William Paterson, 
Jonathan Dayton. 

Pennsylvania. 
Benjamin Franklin, 
Thomas Mifflin, 
Robert Morris, 
George Clymer, 
Thomas Fitzsimons, 
Jared Ingersoll, 
James Wilson, 
G^uverneur Morris. 

Attest : 



Daniel of St. Tho. Jenifer, 
Daniel Carroll. 

Virginia. 
John Blair, 
James Madison, jr. 

North Carolina. 
William Blount, 
Richard Dobbs Spaigot, 
Hugh Williamson. 

South Carolina. 
John Rutledge, 
Charles C. Pincknet, 
Charles Pinckney, 
Pierce Butler. 

Georgia. 
William Few, 
Abraham Baldwin. 
William Jackson, Secretary. 



362 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATE*. 



AMENDMENTS* 

To the Constitution of the United States, ratified accord- 
ing to the Provisions of the fifth Article of the foregoing 
Constitution. 

Article the first. Congress shall make no law respect 
ing an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free ex- 
ercise thereof ; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of 
the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assem- 
ble, and to petition the government for a redress of griev- 
ances. 

Article the second. A well regulated militia being ne- 
cessary to the security of a free state, the right of the peo- 
ple to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. 

Article the third. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be 
quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner ; 
nor in a time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by 
law. 

Article the fourth. The right of the people to be secure 
in their persons, houses,papers, and effects, against unrea- 
sonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and 
no warrarts shall issue, but upon probable cause, suppor- 
ted by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the 
place to be searched, and the persons or things to be 
seized. 

Article the fifth. No person shall be held to answer for 
a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a present- 
ment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising 
in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in ac- 
tual service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall 
any person be subject for the same offence to be twice 

*■ Congress, at its first session, begun and held in the city of New York, on 
Wednesday, the 4th of March, 1789, proposed to the legislatures of the several 
Mates twelve amendments to the constitution, ten of which, only, were adopted. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 363 

put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled in 
any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be 
deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process 
of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use, 
without just compensation. 

Article the sixth. In all criminal prosecutions, the ac- 
cused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by 
an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime 
shall have been committed, which district shall have been 
previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the 
nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted 
with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory pro- 
cess for obtaining witnesses in hislavor, and to have the 
assistance of counsel for his defence. 

Article the seventh. In suits at common law, where the 
value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right 
of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a 
jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the 
United States, than according to the rules of the commoo 
law.* 

Article the eighth. Excessive bail shall not be' required, 
nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual pun- 
ishments inflicted. 

Article the ninth. The enumeration in the constitution 
of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or dispar- 
age others retained by the people. 

Article the tenth. The powers not delegated to the Uni- 
ted States, by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the 



* The act of assembly of Maryland, of 1793, chap. 30, incorporating the bank of 
Cclumbia, and giving to the corporation a summary process by execution in the 
nature of an attachment against its debtors who have, by an express consent in 
writing, made the bonds, bills, or notes, by them drawn and endorsed, negotiable 
at the bank, is not repugnant to the constitution of the United States or of Mary- 
land — Bank of Colvmbia vs. Okcly, 4 Wheaton, 246, 249. 

But the last provision in the act of incorporation, which gives this summary 
process to the bank , is no part of its corporate franchise, and may be repealed or 
altftiwd at pleasure by th& legislative will.— Id., 245. 



364 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the 
people.* 

Article the eleventli.\ The judicial power of the United 
States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law 
or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the 
United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens 
or subjects of any foreign state. 

Article the twelfth.^ The electors shall meet in their re- 
spective states, and vote by ballot for president and vice- 
president, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabi- 
tant of the same state with themselves ; they shall name 

* The powers granted to Conmress are not exclusive of similar powers existing 
in the states, unless where the constitution has expressly in terms given an 
exclusive power to Congress, or the exercise of a like power is prohibited to the 
states, or there is a direct repugnancy or incompatibility in the exercise of it by 
the states. — Houston vs. Moore, 5 Wkcaton, 1, 12. 

The example of the first class is to be found in the exclusive legislation dele- 
gated to Congress over places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the 
state in which the same shall be for forts, arsenals, dock-yards, Sec. Of the second 
class, the prohibition of a state to coin money or emit bills of credit. Of the 
third class, the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and the dele- 
gation of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. — Id., 49. 

In all other classes of cases, the states retain concurrent authority with Con- 
gress. — Id., 49. 

But in cases of concurrent authority, where the laws of the states and the Union 
are in direct and manifest collision on the same subject, those of the Union being 
the supreme law of the land are of paramount authority, and the state laws so lur, 
and so tar only as such incompatibility exists, must necessarily yield. — Id., 49. 

There is nothing in the constitution of the United States similar to the articles 
of confederation, whith excludes incidental or implied powers. — McCulloch vs. 
State of Maryland, 4 Wkeaton, 406. 

If the end be legitimate, and within the scope of the constitution, all the means 
which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, and which are not 
prohibited, may constitutionally be employed to carry it into effect. — Id., 421. 

The act of Congress of 4th May, 1812, entitled, "An act further to amend the 
sharter of the city of Washington," which provides (sect. 6) that the corporation 
of the city shall be empowered for certain purposes and under certain restric- 
tions, to authorize the drawing of lotteries, does not extend to authorize the 
corporation to force the sale of the tickets in such lottery in states where such 
Bale may be prohibited by the state laws. — Cohens vs. Virginia, 6 Wheaton, 264, 
375. 

\ This amendment was proposed at the first session of the third Congreea» 
See ante art, iii., sect. 2, clause 1. 

t Proposed at the first session of the eighth Congress. See ante art, sect. I 
clause 3. Annulled by this amendment. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 365 

ttk their ballots the person voted for as president, and in 
distinct ballots the person voted for as vice-president, and 
they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as 
president, and of all persons voted for as vice-president 
and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall 
sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the 
government of the United States, directed to the president 
of the senate;* — the president of the senate shall, in the 
presence of the senate and house of representatives, open 
all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted ; — 
the person having the greatest number of votes for presi- 
dent, shall be the president, if such number be a majority 
of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no per- 
son liave such majority, then from the persons having the 
highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those 
voted for as president, the house of representatives shall 
choose immediately, by ballot, the president. But in 
choosing the president, the votes shall be taken by states, 
the representation from each state having one vote ; a quo- 
rum for this purpose shall consist of a member or mem- 
bers from two thirds of the states, and a majority of all 
the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the 
house of representatives shall not choose a president when- 
ever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before 
the fourth day of Mai'ch next following*, then the vice 
Dresident shall act as president, as in the case of the death 
or other constitutional disability of the president. The 
persons having the greatest number of votes as vice-presi- 
dent, shall be the vice-president, if such number be a rha- 
joiity of the whole number of electors appointed, and if 
no person have a majority, then from the two highest 
numbers on the list, the senate shall choose the vice-presi- 
dent ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two thirds 
of iae whole number of senators, and a majority of tho 

* See laws of the United States, vol. ii., chap. 109, sect. 5. 



366 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNTTED »TATES. 

whole number shall be necessary to a choice. IJut no 
person constitutionally ineligible to the office of president 
Bhall be eligible to that of vice-president of the United 

State's. 

Note. — Another amendment was proposed as article xiii., at the second session 
of the eleventh Congress, but not having been ratified by a sufficient number of 
states, has not yet become valid as a part of the constitution of the United States. 
It is erroneously given as a part of the constitution, in page 74, vol, i., laws of tha 
United States. 



I have examined and compared the foregoing print of the constitution of the 
United States, and the amendments thereto, with the rolls in this office, and find it 
a faithful and literal copy of the said constitution and amendments, in the text 
and punctuation thereof. It appears that the first ten amendments, which were 
proposed at the first session of the first Congress of the United States, were finally 
ratified by the constitutional number of states, on the 15th day of December, 
1791 ; that the eleventh amendment, which was proposed at the first session of 
the third Congress, was declared, in a message from the president of the United 
States to both houses of Congress, dated 8th January, 1798, to have been adopted 
by three fourths, the constitutional number of states ; and that the twelfth amtind* 
ment, which was proposed at the first session of the eighth Congress, was adopted 
by three fourths, the constitutional number of states, in the year one thousand 
eight hundred and four, according to a public notice thereof, by the secretary of 
state, under date the 25th of September, of the same year. 

Daniel Brent, Chief Clerk 

Department of State, Washington, 25th Feb., 1828. 



As soon as the Constitution was presented to Congress, 
that, body adopted a resolution, by which it was recom- 
mended to the several states, to eall conventions within 
their respective jurisdictions to consider it, and adopt or 
reject it. It was agreed that when nine of the thirteen 
states should ratify it, it should become the fundamental 
law of the land. 

In every state in the Union, there was a strong party 
opposed to the constitution, and frequently the leaders in 
the opposition were men whose patriotism was beyond 
reproach. Among these was Patrick Henry, of Virginia, 
who opposed its ratification by the Assembly of his state. 
with all his gigantic powers. The annulling, to a great 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 36? 

extent, of State Rights, and basing the sovereignty too 
absolutely upon the popular will, were the chief objec- 
tions to the instrument ; for the experience of all former 
ages had shown, that of all human governments, demo 
cracy was the most unstable, fluctuating, and short-lived. 
Despotism, arising from a centralization of , power in the 
general government, on one hand, and anarchy incident 
to the instability of democracy, on the other, were the 
Scylla and Charybdis, between which the republic would, 
in the opinion of these opponents, be placed, with almost 
a certainty of destruction. Long and stormy sessions 
were therefore had in the several state conventions, and 
in most of them, the majorities in favor of the constitution 
were small * It was not until the twenty first of June, 
1788, that New Hampshire, the ninth state, ratified it, and 
it became the law of the land. Rhode Island did not give 
its sanction until the twenty ninth of May, 1790. 

The friends of the new Constitution greatly rejoiced 
when its ratification was secured by a majority of the 
states ; and it was gratifying to see many of the patriotic 
leaders of the opposition, submit cheerfully to the will of 
the majority, and lend their aid in carrying its provisions 
into operation. Steps were immediately taken to organize 
the government under it, the most important of which 
was, the election of a Chief Magistrate. The friends of 
the new constitution turned their eyes upon Washington ; 
— indeed his name seemed first to occur to the mind 



* A periodica], devoted to the advocacy of the principles and doctrines of the 
constitution, was started, under the auspices of Hamilton, Madison and others. 
It was called "The Federalist," and was filled with essays, arguing in favor of 
the proposed change in the government. Those opposed to the constitution 
styled themselves "Auti-Fedcralists" and this was the origin of those party 
names, one of which i3 familiar to the ear even in our day. Washington belonged 
to the Federal party, and, although he saw many defects in the constitution, yet 
It was so much better than all that preceded it, that he gave it his hearty 
eupp^.-t. It was during his administration, that thd "Republican' party camo 
into being, with Mr Jefterson at its head. 



368 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of the whole nation. The first Presidential Electors were 
chosen in February, 1789, and on the first Wednesday 
of March, the Electoral College met to vote for Chief 
Magistrate. Washington received the unanimous vote 
of the electors, and John Adams was chosen Vice- 
President. 

But one act more remained to complete the glorious 
work begun in 1776, by declaring the colonies "free and 
independent states." That act was the inauguration of 
the first President of the Republic, now placed upon a 
stable basis. It took place in the city of New York, on 
the thirtieth day of April, 1789. As soon as Washington 
was apprized of his election, he proceeded to the seat of 
the general government, at New York. His journey was 
one triumphant procession, grander far, because of its 
noble moral aspect, than any that ever attended the 
return to the capital of the proudest of Rome's many 
victors. No sorrowing captives ; no spoils of palaces and 
temples ; no gorgeous display of banners and spears, and 
all the dreadful pomp of barbarous War, attended the 
Hero's march ; but through busy towns and smiling fields 
his pathway to highest exaltation was laid out, and the 
shouts of a grateful people, mingled with the songs of 
children and the sweet hosannas of women, greeted him 
at every step. 

At nine o'clock on the morning of his inauguration, 
Washington attended divine service, a fit preparation for 
the solemn scene in which he was about to encase. He 
then proceeded to the old Federal Hall, and upon the 
balcony, in the presence of assembled thousands, Chan- 
cellor Livingston administered to him the oath of office, 
and proclaimed him the President of the United States. 
The Revolution was complete, the divine truth of Man's 
Equality was vindicated, and our Republic — the pride 
and glory of the earth, started upon its wondrous career. 



CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 36£ 

In the language of that lamented statesman and sage 
John Quincy Adams, we say to our countrymen, — 

" And now the future is all before us, and Providence 
our guide. 

" When the children of Israel, after forty years of wan- 
derings in the wilderness, were about to enter upon the 
promised land, their leader, Moses, who was not per- 
mitted to cross the Jordan with them, just before his re- 
moval from among them, commanded that when the 
Lord their God should have brought them into the land, 
they should put the curse upon Mount Ebal, and the 
blessing upon Mount Gerizim. This injunction was 
faithfully fulfilled by his- successor Joshua. Immedi- 
ately after they had taken possession of the land, Joshua 
built an altar to the Lord, of whole stones, upon Mount 
Ebal. And there he wrote upon the stones a copy of 
the law of Moses, which he had written in the presence, 
of the children of Israel : and all Israel, and their elders 
and officers, and their judges, stood on the two sides of 
the ark of the covenant, borne by the priests and Levites, 
six tribes over against Mount Gerizim, and six over 
against Mount Ebal. And he read all the words of the 
law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that wa& 
written in the book of the law. 

u Fellow-citizens, the ark of your covenant is the Dec- 
laration of Independence. Your Mount Ebal, is the 
confederacy of separate state sovereignties, and your 
Mount Gerizim is the Constitution of the United States. 
In that scene of tremendous and awful solemnity, narra- 
led in the Holy Scriptures, there is not a curse pronoun- 
ced against the people, upon Mount Ebal, not a blessing 
promised them upon Mount Gerizim, which your pos- 
terity may not suffer or enjoy, from your and their ad- 
herence to, or departure from, the principles of the 
Declaration of Independence, practically interwoven in 
24 



370 CONSTITUTICSI OP THE UNITED STATES. 

the Constitution of the United States. Lay up these 
principles, then, in your hearts, and in your souls — bind 
them for signs upon your hands, that they may be as 
frontlets between your eyes — teach them to your chil- 
dren, speaking of them when sitting in your houses, 
when walking by the way, when lying down and when 
rising up — write them upon the doorplates of your 
houses, and upon your gates — cling to them as to the 
issues of life — adhere to them as to the coiis of your 
eternal salvation." 



APPENDIX, 



STAMP ACT.* 

Whereas, by an act made in the last session of Parlia- 
ment, several duties were granted, continued, and appro- 
priated toward defraying the expenses of defending, pro- 
tecting, and securing the British colonies and plantations 
in America : and whereas it is first necessary, that pro- 
vision be made for raising a further revenue within your 
majesty's dominions in America, towards defraying the 
said expenses ; we, your majesty's most dutiful and loyal 
subjects, the Commons of Great Britain, in parliament 
assembled, have therefore resolved to give and grant unto 
your majesty the several rights and duties hereinafter 
mentioned ; and do most humbly beseech your majesty 
that it may be enacted, And be it enacted by the king's 
most excellent majesty, by and with the advice and con- 
sent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in 
this present parliament assembled, and by the authority 
of the same, That from and after the first day of Novem- 
ber, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-five, there 
shall be raised, levied, collected, and paid unto his 
majesty, his heirs, and successors, throughout the colonies 
and plantations in America, which now are, or hereafter 
may be, under the dominion of his majesty, his heirs and 
successors 

1. For every skin of vellum or parchment, or sheet or 
piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or 

* Received th* royal signature, March 27th, 1765. 



372 STAMP ACT. 

printed, any declaration, plea, replication, rejoinder, de 
murrer, or other pleading, or any copy thereof, in any 
court of law within the British colonies and plantations in 
America, a stamp duty of three pence. 

2. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
6heet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any special bail, and appearance upon 
such bail in any such court, a stamp duty of two shillings. 

3. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which may be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any petition, bill, or answer, claim, 
plea, replication, rejoinder, demurrer, or other pleading, 
in any court of chancery or equity within the said col- 
onies and plantations, a stamp duty of one shilling and 
six pence. 

4. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any copy of any petition, bill, answer, 
claim, plea, replication, rejoinder, demurrer, or other 
pleading, in any such court, a stamp duty of three 2^cnce. 

5. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any monition, libel, answer, allegation, 
inventory, or renunciation, in ecclesiastical matters, in 
any court of probate, court of the ordinary, or other court 
exercising ecclesiastical jurisdiction within the said colo- 
nies and plantations, a stamp duty of one shilling. 

6. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any copy of any will (other than the 
probate thereof,) monition, libel, answer, allegation, in- 
ventory, or renunciation, in ecclesiastical matters, in any 
such court, a stamp duty of six pence. 

7. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, oi 
shee* or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed^ 



•STAMP ACT. 373 

written, or printed, any donation, presentation, collation 
or institution, of or to any benefice, or any writ or instru- 
ment for the like purpose, or any register, entry, testimo- 
nial, or certificate of any degree taken in any university, 
academy, college, or seminary of learning, within the said 
colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of two jiounds. 

8. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any monition, libel, claim, answer, 
allegation, information, letter of request, execution, re- 
nunciation, inventory, or other pleading, in any admiralty 
court within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp 
duty of one shilling. 

9. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
si.eet or piece of paper, on which any copy of any sucr 
monition, libel, claim, answer, allegation, information, let- 
ter of request, execution, renunciation, inventory, or 
other pleading, shall be engrossed, written, or printed, a 
stamp duty of six pence. 

10. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, ov 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed; 
written, or printed, any appeal, writ of error, writ of 
dower, ad quod damnum, certiorari, statute merchant, 
statute staple, attestation, or certificate, by any officer, or 
exemplification of any record or proceeding, in any court 
whatsoever, within the said colonies and plantations (ex- 
cept appeals, writs of error, certiorari, attestations, certi- 
ficates, and exemplifications, for, or relating to the re- 
moval of any proceedings from before a single justice of 
the peace,) a stamp duty of ten shillings. 

11. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
6heet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any writ of covenant for levying fines, 
writ of entry for suffering a common recovery, or attach- 
ment issuing out of, or returnable into any court within 



374 STAMP \CT. 

the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty cf fivt 
shillings. 

12. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any judgment, decree, or sentence, 
or dismission, or any record of nisi prius or postea, in any 
court within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp 
duty of four shillings. 

13. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any affidavit, common bail, or appear- 
ance, interrogatory, deposition, rule, order or warrant of 
any court, or any dedimus potestatem, capias subpama, 
summons, compulsory citation, commission, recognisance, 
or any other writ, process, or mandate, issuing out of, or 
returnable into, any court, or any office belonging there- 
to, or any other proceeding therein whatsoever, or any 
copy thereof, or of any record not herein before charged, 
within the said colonies and plantations (except warrants 
relating to criminal matters, and proceedings thereon, or 
relating thereto,) a stamp duty of one shilling. 

14. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any note or bill of lading, which shall 
be signed for any kind of goods, wares, or merchandise, 
to be exported from, or any cocket or clearance granted 
within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of 
four pence. 

15. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, letters of mart or commission for pri- 
vate ships of war, within the said colonies and plantations, 
a stamp du^y of twenty shillings. 

16. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, ot 
shfcot ir piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed. 



STAMP ACT. 376 

written, or printed, any giant, appointment, or admission 
of, or to any public beneficial office or employment, for 
the space of one year, or any lesser time, of or above 
twenty pounds per annum sterling money, in salary, fees, 
and perquisites, within the said colonies and plantations 
(except commissions and appointments of officers of the 
army, navy, ordnance, or militia, of judges, and of justices 
of the peace,) a stamp duty of ten shillings. 

17. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which any grant, of any liberty, 
privilege, or franchise, under the seal or sign manual, of 
any governor, proprietor, or public officer, alone, or in 
conjunction with any other person or persons, or with any 
council, or any council and assembly, or any exemplifi- 
cation of the same, shall be engrossed, written, or printed, 
within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of 
six pounds. 

18. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
-sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 

written, or printed, any license for retailing of spirituous 
liquors, to be granted to any person who shall take out 
the same, within the said colonies and plantations a stamp 
duty of tioenty shillings. 

19. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any license for retailing of wine, to be 
granted to any person who shall not take out a license for 
retailing of spirituous liquors, within the said colonies and 
plantations, a stamp duty of four pounds. 

20. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any license for retailing of wine, to be 
granted to any person who shall take out a license for 
retailing of spirituous liquors, within the said colonies and 
plantations, a stamp duty of three pounds. 



376 STAMP ACT. 

21. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, ot 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engr^s^ec 1 . 
written, or printed, any probate of will, letters of admin- 
istration, or of guardianship for any estate above the value 
of twenty pounds sterling money, within the British col- 
onies and plantations upon the continent of America, the 
islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama 
islands, a stamp duty of five shillings. 

22. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, writ- 
ten, or printed, any such probate, letters of administra- 
tion or of guardianship, within all other parts of the Brit- 
ish dominions in America, a stamp duty of ten shillings. 

23. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, writ- 
ten, or printed, any bond for securing the payment of any 
sum of money, not exceeding the sum often pounds ster- 
ling money, within the British colonies and plantations 
upon the continent of America, the islands belonging 
thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama islands, a stamp 
duty of six pence. 

24. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, oi 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, writ- 
ten, or printed, any bond for securing the payment of any 
sum of money, above ten pounds, and not exceeding 
twenty pounds sterling money, within such colonies, 
plantations, and islands, a stamp duty of one shilling. 

25. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, writ- 
ten, or printed, any bond for securing the payment of nny 
sum of money above twenty pounds, and not exceeding 
forty pounds sterling money, within such colonies, plan- 
tations, and islands, a stamp duty of one shilling and skk 
pence. 

26. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchmenc oi 



STAMP ACT. 37/ 

sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, writ- 
ten, or printed, any order or warrant for surveying or set- 
ting out any quantity of land, not exceeding one hundred 
acres, issued by any governor, proprietor, or any public 
officer, alone, or in conjunction with any other person or 
persons, or with any council, or any council and assembly, 
within the British colonies and plantations in America, a 
stamp duty of six pence. 

27. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, writ- 
ten, or printed, any such order or warrant for surveying 
or setting out any quantity of land above one hundred and 
not exceeding two hundred acres, within the said colonies 
and plantations, a stamp duty of one shilling. 

28. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any such order or warrant for survey- 
ing or setting out any quantity of land above two hundred 
and not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres, and 
in proportion for every such order or warrant for survey- 
ing or setting out every other three hundred and twenty 
acres, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp 
duty of one shilling and six pence. 

29. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or 
sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any original grant, or any deed, mesne 
conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which 
any qil-antity of land, not exceeding one hundred acres, 
shall be granted, conveyed or assigned, within the British 
colonies and plantations upon the continent of America, 
the islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and Ba 
hama islands (except leases for any term not exceeding 
the term of twenty-one years), a stamp duty of one shil- 
ling and six pence. 

30 For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, oi 



378 STAMP ACT. 

sheet or pirce of paper, on which shall be engiossed 
written, or printed, any such origina. grant, or any such 
deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, 
by which any quantity of land, above one hundred and 
not exceeding two hundred acres, shall be granted, con- 
veyed, or assigned, within such colonies, plantations, and 
islands, a stamp duty of two shillings. 

31. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, 
or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any such original grant, or any 6uch 
deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, 
by which any quantity of land, above two hundred, and 
not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres, shall be 
granted, conveyed, or assigned, and in proportion for 
every such grant, deed, mesne conveyance, or other in- 
strument, granting, conveying, or assigning, every other 
three hundred and twenty acres, within such colonies, 
plantations, and islands, a stamp duty of two shillings and 
sixpence. 

32. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, 
or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any such original grant, or any such 
deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, 
by which any quantity of land, not exceeding one hundred 
acres, shall be granted, conveyed, or assigned, within all 
other parts of the British dominions in America, a stamp 
duty of three shillings. 

33. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, 
oi sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed 
written, or printed, any such original grant, or any such 
desd, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, 
by which any quantity of land, above one hundred and not 
exceeding two hundred acres, shall be granted, conveyed 
or assigned, within the same parts of the said d jminions 
a stamp duty of four shillings. 






STAMP ACT. 



379 



o4. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, 
or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any such original grant, or any such 
deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, 
by which any quantity of land, above two hundred and 
not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres, shall be 
granted, conveyed, or assigned, and in proportion for 
every such grant, deed, mesne conveyance, or other in- 
strument, granting, conveying, or assigning every other 
three hundred and twenty acres, within the same parts of 
the said dominions, a stamp duty of Jive shillings. 

35. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, 
or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any grant, appointment, or admission, 
of or to any beneficial office or employment, not herein 
before charged, above the value of twenty pounds per an- 
num sterling money, in salary, fees, and perquisites, or 
tiiy exemplification of the same, within the British colo- 
nies and plantations upon the continent of America, the 
islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama 
islands (except commissions of officers of the army, navy, 
ordnance, or militia, and of justices of the peace), a stamp 
duty of four pounds. 

36. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, 
or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any such grant, appointment, or ad- 
mission, of or to any such public beneficial office or em- 
ployment, or any exempli cation of the same, within all 
other parts of the British dominions in America, a stamp 
duty of six pounds. 

17. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, 
or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any indenture, lease, conveyance, 
contract, stipulation, bill of sale, charter party, protest, ar- 
ticles of apprenticeship or covenant (except for the hire 



380 STAMP ACT. 

of servants not apprentices, and also except such other 
matters as herein before charged), within the British colo- 
nies and plantations in America, a stamp duty of two shil- 
lings and six pence. 

38. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, 
or sheet or piece of paper on which any warrant or order 
for auditing any public accounts, beneficial warrant, order, 
grant, or certificate, under any public seal, or under the 
seal or sign manual of any governor, proprietor, or public 
officer, alone, or in conjunction w T ith any person or per- 
sons, or with any council, or any council and assembly, not 
herein before charge, or any passport or letpass, surren- 
der of office, or policy of assurance, shall be engrossed, 
written or printed within the said colonies and planta- 
tions (except warrants or orders for the service of the ar- 
my, navy, ordnance, or militia, and grants of offices under 
twenty pounds per annum, in salary, fees, and perqui- 
sites) a stamp duty of Jive shillings. 

39. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, 
or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written or printed, any notarial act, bond, deed, letter of 
attorney, procuration, mortgage, release, or other obliga- 
tory instrument, not herein before charged, within the 
said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of two shillings 
and three pence. 

40. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, 
or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, 
written, or printed, any register, entry, or enrolment of 
any grant, deed, or other instrument whatsoever, herein 
before charged, within the said colonies and plantations, 
a s^tamp duty of three pence. 

41. For every skin or piece of vellum or p&i'chment, 
or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be ©ngiossed, 
written, or printed, any register, entry, o\ any anrulment 
of any grant, deed, or other instrument w>W»««»r** # »*** 



STAMP ACT. 381 

herein before charged, within the said colonies and plan 
tations, a stamp duty of two shillings. 

42. And for and upon every pack of playing cards, and 
all dice, which shall be sold or used within the said colo- 
nies and plantations, the several stamp duties following 
(that is to say) ; 

43. For every pack of such cards, one shilling. 

44. And for every pair of such dice, ten shillings. 

45. And for and upon every paper called a pamphlet, 
and upon every newspaper, containing public news, or 
occurrences, which shall be printed, dispersed, and made 
public, within any of the said colonies and plantations, and 
for and upon such advertisements as are hereinafter men- 
tioned, tne respective duties following (that is to say) ; 

46. For every such pamphlet and paper, contained in 
a half sheet, or any lesser piece of paper, which shall be 
so printed, a stamp duty of one half-penny for every 
printed copy thereof. 

47. For every such pamphlet and paper (being larger 
than half a sheet, and not exceeding one whole sheet), 
which shall be printed, a stamp duty of one penny for 
every printed copy thereof. 

48. For every pamphlet and paper, being larger than 
one whole sheet, and not exceeding six sheets in octavo, 
or in a lesser page, or not exceeding twelve sheets in 
quarto, or twenty sheets in folio, which shall be so printed 
a duty after the rate of one shilling for every sheet of any 
kind of paper which shall be contained in one printed 
copy thereof. 

49. For every advertisement to be contained in any ga- 
zette, newspaper, or other paper, or any pamphlet which 
shall be so printed, a duty of two shillings. 

50. For every almanac, or caler dar, for any one particu* 
«ar year, or for any time less than a year, which shall b« 
tvritten or printed on one side only of any one sheet, skin. 



382 STAMP ACT 

or piece of paper, parchment, 01 vellum, within the said 
colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of two 'pence. 

51. For every other almanac or calendar, for any one 
particular year, which shall be written or printed within 
the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of four 
'pence. 

52. And for every almanac or calendar, written or 
printed in tne said colonies and plantations, to serve for 
several years, duties to the same amount respectively 
shall be paid for eveiy such year. 

53. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, 
or sheet or piece of paper, on which any instrument, pro- 
ceeding, or other' matter or thing aforesaid, shall be en- 
grossed, written, or printed, within the said colonies and 
plantations, in any other than the English language, a 
stamp duty of double the amount of the respective duties 
before charged thereon. 

54. And there shall be also paid, in the said colonies 
and plantations, a duty of six pence for every twenty shil- 
lings, in any sum not exceeding fifty pounds sterling mo- 
ney, which shall be given, paid, contracted, or agreed for, 
with or in relation to any clerk or apprentice, which shall 
be put or placed to or with any master or mistress, to 
learn any profession, trade, or employment. II. And alsc 
a duty of one shilling for every twenty shillings, in any 
sum exceeding fifty pounds, which shall be given, paid, 
contracted, or agreed for, with, or in relation to, any such 
clerk or apprentice. 

55. Finally, the produce of all the aforementioned du- 
ties shall be paid into his majesty's treasury ; and there 
held in reserve, to be used from time to time by the par- 
liament, for the purpose of defraying the expenses neces- 
sary for the defence, protection, and security of the said 
colonies and plantations. 



CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 




The names op the Delega^s to the Contention 
which met at philadelphia, in may, 1787, to frame 
a new constitution, were as follows : 

New Hampshire, on the 27th of June, 1787, appointed 
John Langdon, John Pickering, Nicholas Gilman, and 
Benjamin West. 

Massachusetts, on the 9th of April, 1787, appointed 
Francis Dana, Elbridge Gerry, Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus 
King, and Caleb Strong. 

Connecticut, on the second Thursday of May, 17 
pointed William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sher 
Oliver Ellsworth. 

New York, on the 6th of March, 1787, appointed Ro- 
bert Yates, John Lansing, jr., and Alexander Hamilton. 

New Jersey, on the 23d of November, 1780, appointed 
David Brearley, William Churchill Houston, William Pat- 
erson, and John Neilson ; and on the 8th of May, 1787, 
added William Livingston, and Abraham Clark ; and on 
the 5th of June, 1787, added Jonathan Dayton. 

Pennsylvania, on the 30th of December, 1786, appointee* 
Thomas Mifflin, Robert Moms, ireorge Clymer, Jaied Tn- 
gersoll, Thomas Fitzsimons, oaraes Wilson, and Gouver- 
neur Morris; and on the 28th of March, 1787, addea 
Benjamin Franklin. / . 

Delaware, on the 3d of February, 1787, appointed 
George Reed, Gunning Bedford, jr., John Dickinson. 
Richard Bassett, and Jacob Broom. 



384 CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 

Maryland, on the 26th of May, 1787, appointed James 
M'Henry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll, 
John Francis Mercer, and Luther Martin. 

Virginia, on the 16th of October, 1786, appointed 
George Washington, Patrick Henry, Edmund Randolph, 
John Blair, James Madison, jr., George Mason, and 
George Wythe. Patrick Henry having declined his ap- 
pointment as deputj, James M'Clure was nominated to 
supply his place. 

North Carolina, in January, 17S7, elected Richard 
Caswell, Alexander Martin, William Richardson Davie, 
Richard Dobbs Spaight, and Willie Jones. Richard 
Caswell having resigned, William Blount was appointed 
a deputy in his place. Willie Jones having also declined 
his appointment, was supplied by Hugh Williamson. 

South Carolina, on the Sth of March, 1787, appointed 
John Rutledge, Charles Pinckney. Charles Cotesworth 

inckney, and Pierce Butler. 

ia, on the 10th of February, 1787, appointed 
William Few, Abraham Baldwin, William Pierce, Georg« 
Wakoo, William Houston, and Nathaniel PendletcJD 



644.^*1 



THK BN1»- 






